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PCG: 400 liters of oily water mixtures collected as leak continues in Oriental Mindoro
Philippines
National
PCG: 400 liters of oily water mixtures collected as leak continues in Oriental Mindoro
PCG: 400 liters of oily water mixtures collected as leak continues in Oriental Mindoro
Published May 3, 2023 08:28 am
More than two months since motor tanker (MT) Princess Empress sank and triggered a massive oil spill in Oriental Mindoro, loads of spilt oil are still being collected by response teams as leak continues from the sunken vessel.
(Photo courtesy of PCG)
The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) reported that approximately 400 liters of oily water mixtures were collected during another round of clean up operations off Balingawan Point on Tuesday, May 2, exactly 63 days since MT Princess Empress sank off Naujan town on Feb. 28.
The PCG said that the clean up was spearheaded by Malayan Towage and Salvage Corp., the contractor hired by the owner and operator of MT Princess Empress, RDC Reield Marine Services, Inc.
The Malayan Towage and Salvage Corp. deployed oil spill boom and skimmer from its two motor tugboats, M/Tug Titan 1 and M/Tug Cabilao, so their personnel could manually scoop the spilt oil in the waters off Balingawan Point as new oil sheens were sighted in the area, the PCG said.
“The offshore response team recovered approximately 400 liters of oily water mixtures,” the PCG said on Wednesday, May 3.
Rear Adm. Armando Balilo, PCG spokesperson, has said that efforts to float the sunken MT Princess Empress and have it removed underwater “is out of the question” for now as they are focused on collecting the spilt oil.
“Sa ngayon, out of the question ‘yung pagpapalutang po noon at ang nais lang natin ay makuha ‘yong oil para matapos na itong problema natin dito (For now, floating it is out of the question and what we only want to do is to collect the oil so we can finally solve this problem),” Balilo said in a radio interview with dzBB on Tuesday.
The PCG has since collected 5,963 sacks (approximately 149,075 kilos) and 22 drums (approximately 2,750 kilos) of oil contaminated debris in nine affected barangays in Naujan, Calapan, and Pola towns in Oriental Mindoro from March 1 to May 2.
(Photo courtesy of PCG)
The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) reported that approximately 400 liters of oily water mixtures were collected during another round of clean up operations off Balingawan Point on Tuesday, May 2, exactly 63 days since MT Princess Empress sank off Naujan town on Feb. 28.
The PCG said that the clean up was spearheaded by Malayan Towage and Salvage Corp., the contractor hired by the owner and operator of MT Princess Empress, RDC Reield Marine Services, Inc.
The Malayan Towage and Salvage Corp. deployed oil spill boom and skimmer from its two motor tugboats, M/Tug Titan 1 and M/Tug Cabilao, so their personnel could manually scoop the spilt oil in the waters off Balingawan Point as new oil sheens were sighted in the area, the PCG said.
“The offshore response team recovered approximately 400 liters of oily water mixtures,” the PCG said on Wednesday, May 3.
Rear Adm. Armando Balilo, PCG spokesperson, has said that efforts to float the sunken MT Princess Empress and have it removed underwater “is out of the question” for now as they are focused on collecting the spilt oil.
“Sa ngayon, out of the question ‘yung pagpapalutang po noon at ang nais lang natin ay makuha ‘yong oil para matapos na itong problema natin dito (For now, floating it is out of the question and what we only want to do is to collect the oil so we can finally solve this problem),” Balilo said in a radio interview with dzBB on Tuesday.
The PCG has since collected 5,963 sacks (approximately 149,075 kilos) and 22 drums (approximately 2,750 kilos) of oil contaminated debris in nine affected barangays in Naujan, Calapan, and Pola towns in Oriental Mindoro from March 1 to May 2.
Sustaining the clean up
Meanwhile, absorbent pads made from coconut oil are now being considered to be used to sustain the dragging oil spill clean up operations in Oriental Mindoro. The Marine Science Technician (MST) from the United States Coast Guard conducted a field testing of absorbent pads made from coconut oil on May 1 to test whether they can be used in cleaning up the oil spill. The absorbent pads were endorsed by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST). The MST also tested fiber absorbent pads from local company EcoTrends which were installed in Brgy. Navotas, Calapan, Oriental Mindoro to pick up the oil and prevent it from further spreading in other areas of the province.