MANILA, Philippines — Several areas in the National Capital Region and its neighboring provinces are now being asked to prepare for the possible oil spill should the authorities not siphon the industrial fuel oil inside the sunken tanker Terra Nova under certain circumstances, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said Friday.
At a press briefing, PCG spokesperson Armand Balilo said authorities are now preparing for the “worst case scenario” following the capsizing of the motor tanker Terra Nova off the coast of Lamao Point in Limay, Bataan last Thursday.
Areas in the National Capital Region, particularly areas from Navotas, Manila, Parañaque, including provinces of Bulacan and Pampanga are now being asked to prepare should the industrial fuel oil from the sunken tanker spill and will not siphon the vessel.
“We are coordinating with the local government units of these areas plus dinispatch natin yung ating mga personnel to monitor and to prepare if ever the authorities will not siphon yung langis at tumagas,” Balilo said.
The coast guard has already deployed several vessels to augment the oil spill operation within the area including BRP Melchora Aquino, BRP Gabriela Silang (marine casualty investigation), and three 44-meter vessels to augment the response operations.
As of writing, the PCG said authorities were collecting the emulsified oil of the tanker, which means only the working fuel is leaking a day after the ship capsized and none from the 1.4 million liters of industrial oil are leaking.
“We are racing against time na ma-siphon natin yung langis para ma avoid natin yung environmental catastrophe,” he said.
The salvor, who will be in charge of the salvage operations was hired by the Shogun Ships Co, Inc., the company that owns the sunken Terra Nova, has arrived at the area at 1:00 p.m. and is expected to lay down the operations for the siphoning of the oil inside the tanker.
Should the weather become stable and the salvage company has settled its equipment to siphon the oil in the tanker, according to Balilo, the siphoning would take a maximum of seven days until it fully siphoned the industrial fuel oil in the sunken tanker since it sank only 34 meters deep.
Balilo said that the public doesn’t have to be alarmed as authorities are already keeping ahead of their operations to contain the oil spill.
“Wala pang dapat ipag alala pero hindi dapat tayo magpaka-kampante, we should prepare for the worst scenario, at yun po ang ginagawa natin: mobilization, resource management, tsaka po consultation with the experts,” he said.
On Thursday, the MT Terra Nova sank due to bad weather conditions brought about by the southwest monsoon rains and Typhoon Carina but Balilo said the tanker had been allowed to depart Bataan since there were no public storm warning signals raised in the area.
According to the crew’s account relayed to Balilo, around 10 PM, the tanker encountered strong waves, prompting the captain to decide to return. They initially struggled to make their way back as they were facing the waves head-on, which ultimately led to the ship capsizing.
Earlier today, CG Rear Admiral Balilo said the 16 rescued crew have been turned over to their families, while the missing crew who was found dead after nearly 14 hours has been turned over to the family.
