MANILA, Philippines — As authorities near the completion of the cleanup of 1.4 million liters of industrial fuel oil from the sunken MTKR Terranova tanker, recovery efforts have been temporarily paused due to adverse weather conditions brought on by Typhoon Enteng.
In its situation report on Monday, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said that as of 8:00 p.m. Sunday, a total of 1,254,889.58 liters of industrial fuel oil has now been recovered.
The breakdown of oil recovered since August 19 is as follows:
– August 19: 2,350 liters
– August 20: 36,100 liters
– August 21: 42,026 liters
– August 22: 81,136 liters
– August 23: 17,103 liters
– August 24: 121,724 liters
– August 25: 101,603 liters
– August 26: 104,202 liters
– August 27: 67,871 liters
– August 28: 232,187 liters
– August 29: 97,011.58 liters
– August 30: Unloading of oily waste
– August 31: 129,292 liters
– September 1: 222,332 liters
Authorities still need to recover 145,110.42 liters of oil from the tanker. However, PCG has temporarily suspended recovery efforts due to adverse weather conditions caused by Typhoon Enteng.
The PCG has not yet announced a resumption date for the recovery operations.
The contracted salvor for the MTKR Terranova, Harbor Star, deployed additional pumps and reported that the rate of oily waste flow during the September 1, 2024 operation was 22,315 liters per hour.
The Oil Spill Response Team (OSRT) oversaw the transfer of oily waste at Orion Dockyard and confirmed that no leaks were detected during the operation.
As of yesterday, a total of 698,000 liters of oil waste had been loaded onto trucks at Orion Shipyard for transport to a waste management facility in Marilao, Bulacan, for proper disposal.
The BRP Malamawi (FPB-2403) used a portable fire pump to agitate the oil sheen at ground zero, while Coast Guard divers carried out underwater operations to monitor the siphoning activities, it said.
The MTKR Terranova sank off the coast of Lamao Point in Limay, Bataan, on July 25 while transporting 1.4 million liters of industrial fuel oil to Iloilo, resulting in the death of a crew member.
President Marcos previously distributed P363 million in cash aid to residents affected by the oil spill in Cavite. He also announced that fisherfolk can now resume fishing activities, as the oil spill has been contained.
