The oil spill emanating from the sunken motor tanker (MT) Princess Empress is feared to have reached Coron, Palawan, based on satellite imagery from a United States (US)-based science agency.

In a press briefing Monday, April 3, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) announced that a possible oil slick was located approximately 6.5 nautical miles east of Coron as shown in the analysis of satellite images from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

*(Courtesy of Philippine Space Agency, NOAA)*

The Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA) also released a detailed map based on satellite imagery from the agency and NOAA showing the possible presence of oil spill in Coron. The images were taken on various dates from March 26 to April 2.

The PCG said that the possible slick was measured approximately 33 nautical miles in length and 2.5 nautical miles in width. It was spotted south and southwest of the suspected source of the spill in Naujan, Oriental Mindoro where MT Princess Empress sank on Feb. 28 while carrying 800,000 liters of industrial fuel oil. 

“That may be oil. It’s not confirmed, it’s just an anomaly based on satellite imagery as an additional tool to help possibly track any release from the vessel,” said NOAA’s Ruth Yender.

Yender met with officials from the PCG along with a team from the US Coast Guard National Strike Force Coordination Center led by Commander Joel Fergusson. 

*(Courtesy of Philippine Space Agency, NOAA)*

Vice Adm. Rolando Lizor Punzalan Jr., PCG deputy commandant for operations, said the current trajectory of the spill means that Verde Island was no longer threatened.

“The direction is going southwest from the origin. Remember there was at one point that it shifted from northeast that’s why Verde Island became threatened?” Punzalan said. “It’s best to say that first of all, with this trajectory, [Verde Island] is not threatened.”

However, the PCG now has to worry about the impact of the possible oil spill in Coron, which is home to the Coron Island Natural Biotic Area. 

Coron

The Coron Island Natural Biotic Area was listed in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Tentative List. According to UNESCO, some of Coron Island’s coastal areas are covered by mangrove forests. It also has “fantastic and legendary lagoons which are wide, deep and with very clear water,” UNESCO noted.

Coron Island is also listed as one of the country’s priority protected areas after the passage of the National Integrated Protected Areas System (NIPAS) Act in 1992, it stressed.

But Punzalan said mitigating measures were already laid down in Coron in anticipation of the presence of oil spill there.

“That’s why we have an IMT [incident management team] there. We have personnel, we also have the local government. The residents were already made aware,” he said.

Bagging operation

For now, the PCG was banking on the success of the bagging operations being conducted on MT Princess Empress.

“The bagging was successful the other day. That’s part of the progress,” he said, noting that bagging method is the “fastest and most effective” method to drain the leaking fuel from the sunken tanker.

“The fuel was leaking from the air vents. That’s what the results of the survey of the ROV [remotely operated vehicle] showed. The concept is to put a specialized bag over these vents and then pull it to seal it so that the oil would be mitigated, it will be slowed down,” Punzalan continued.

“What is being prevented is for the oil to escape and to spread while still underneath the water,” he added. 

During a meeting between the PCG and US Coast Guard, the officials discussed the results of the survey and 3D mapping conducted on MT Princess Empress by an ROV from Pacific Valkyrie, a dynamic positioning vessel (DPV) contracted by the US Navy. 

“We do have a United States Navy supervisor or salvage ROV that is conducting dive ops today and so eventually we should have some data back from that survey of the vessel to share with the Incident Management Team to help them guide with further actions,” Fergusson said.

Fergusson shared that the results of the survey would determine what other draining methods may be conducted to siphon the remaining cargo fuel from MT Princess Empress.