From around 800,000 liters of industrial fuel oil, there remain 120,000 to 240,000 liters in the sunken motor tanker (MT) Princess Empress, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) has revealed, as oil siphoning finally began to safely extract the chemical substance deep down the waters of Oriental Mindoro.
DSV Fire Opal (Courtesy of Philippine Coast Guard)
Dynamic support vessel (DSV) Fire Opal started oil siphoning operation in Naujan municipality on Monday, May 29, to remove the remaining "black oil" from the sunken tanker, said PCG Spokesperson Rear Adm. Armando Balilo.
“Mula sa humigit-kumulang 800,000 litro na langis, nasa 120,000 hanggang 240,000 litro pa ang inaasahang hihigupin ng DSV Opal (From around 800,000 liters of oil, DSV [Fire] Opal is expected to extract 120,000 to 240,000 liters),” Balilo stated.
DSV Fire Opal, a Liberian vessel, was chartered by the Malayan Towage and Salvage Corporation, and contracted by the Protection and Indemnity Insurance Club.
It sailed from Singapore on May 19 and arrived at the Subic Bay Freeport Zone in Zambales on May 26. The vessel then sailed to Calapan Anchorage Area on Monday morning to start the siphoning.
The siphoning operation is seen to take 20 to 30 days depending on the weather and “subsea progress”, or the handling and treatment of the collected oil, according to Commo. Geronimo Tuvilla, commander of Incident Management Team – Oriental Mindoro (IMT-OrMin).
“Once the oil removal is completed, we hope that the process will pave the way for the rehabilitation of affected areas and finally transition to the normalcy of lives of affected Mindoreños,” Tuvilla shared.
MT Princess Empress sank 400 meters below sea level in Naujan after experiencing rough sea conditions on Feb. 28. The incident resulted to a massive oil spill in Oriental Mindoro that spread to Antique, Batangas, and Palawan.
A total of 42,487 families or 200,244 individuals were affected by the oil spill while damage to agriculture was pegged at P4.7 billion, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC).