Clean-up operations were being conducted in the vicinity waters of San Ricardo, Southern Leyte after an oil spill was spotted there, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) reported on Monday, July 10.
(Photo: Philippine Coast Guard)
The oil spill was sighted at the port in Barangay Benit, San Ricardo last Friday, July 7, but authorities were still determining the cause of the spillage.
Two vessels were subjected to oily water mixture sampling to determine the origin of the oil spill: landing craft tank (LCT) Georgia-1 and motor vessel (MV) San Ric Ferry 20, the PCG said.
The oil spill was monitored 13 minutes after LCT Georgia-1 docked at the Port of Benit, said the vessel’s captain Captain Dioel Ganuhay. The vessel departed from Port of Lipata in Surigao del Norte.
“The PCG, concerned LGU [local government unit], and volunteer residents immediately conducted clean-up operations,” the PCG added.
However, Lt. Commander Donna Liza Ramacho, commander of Coast Guard Station Southern Leyte, said oil spill booms were no longer installed in the affected vicinity waters since only “minimal traces” of oil were reported in the area.
“However, the team continued clean-up operations as they still observed traces of oil along the shoreline,” the PCG said.
The clean-up team has since collected five sacks of oil debris along the shoreline of Barangay Benit.
The incident came after the PCG had just completed oil extraction from the sunken M/T Princess Empress in Oriental Mindoro last month, which triggered a widespread oil spill in February.