The oil spill originating from the sunken motor tanker (MT) Terranova off Limay town’s coast in Bataan was already “under control” as all leaking valves have already been sealed but the siphoning of its cargo – 1.4 million liters of industrial fuel oil (IFO) – has yet to begin, a top Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) official said.
PCG Commandant Adm. Ronnie Gil Gavan joined an aerial survey over the coast of Manila, Bulacan, Pampanga, Bataan, and Cavite on Tuesday, July 30, where there was an observation of “very minimal and unnoticeable” packets of oil sheen.
In Manila, Gavan said that there was no sighting of oil sheen.
“Based on our findings, the waters were clear along the coastline. There was no monitored sign of oil spill except for very, very thin packets of oil sheen which are almost not visible to the naked eye, and this will dissipate through natural weathering effect,” Gavan said.
The PCG’s observation was concurred with by experts from the International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation Limited (ITOPF) who joined the aerial survey.
“Generally, everything is under control. There is nothing to worry about for now. We are on top of the situation but we remain cautious in handling this case because the oil remains underwater,” Gavan said.
While the PCG was addressing the oil spill, another vessel – a cargo ship – ran aground off Bataan’s waters while carrying an undetermined amount of diesel oil. The oil is used to power the ship and not part of its cargo.
The PCG received a report on July 23 that motor vessel (MV) “Mirola Uno” hit shallow waters off Mariveles town.
Details as to the grounding of the cargo ship were limited, but the PCG does not consider it as a “serious threat” so far as it does not contain any cargo fuel.
Still, the PCG will deploy spill booms as part of measures to control potential oil spill.
“It’s not a threat at this time. We are not spreading our resources too thinly but we are dealing with it. When we realized that it is not a threat at this time hindi namin muna siya pinagtuunan ng pansin, pinapabantayan lang muna namin (we have not yet dealt with it right now, we’re just monitoring it). But so far, the report is it’s not posing any serious threat,” Gavan said.
Battling oil spill, ‘fake news’
Gavan also appealed to the public not to spread “fake news” as to the extent of the Bataan oil spill as this may cause unnecessary alarm.
The reported sighting of oil sheen in provinces near Bataan including Bulacan, Cavite and Batangas must have come from the initial salvo of leakage when MT Terranova sank last July 25, according to Gavan.
Most of the oil from the previous report of 12 kilometers of oil sheen in Bataan either dissipated or were contained through the use of spill booms or dispersants, he added.
At present, the PCG chief said there was an observed leak of “less than one liter of oil” from MT Terranova. This was slower compared to what was recorded during the early days of the sinking, where authorities noted a leak of one to two liters of oil per hour.
The slowed leak was owed by the PCG to the successful sealing of 14 leaking valves and four pipes of MT Terranova. The PCG was working double time to seal six of the remaining 24 unsealed valves and pipes of the sunken tanker so that the siphoning operations could finally start.
“The siphoning is yet to commence. Most likely it may start tomorrow [Wednesday, July 31] if the sealing of remaining valves is finished today. These valves are not leaking but we need to cap them as part of precautionary measure and to avoid possible leaks once the siphoning starts,” Gavan explained.
The PCG is intending to drain 300,000 liters out of the 1.4 million liters of IFO cargo from MT Terranova. The process is expected to take six to seven days as the target is to siphon 50,000 to 60,000 liters of oil per day.
Once the siphoning is finished, Gavan said that the tanker is expected to float, and that is when it will be brought to shallow and safer grounds for the extrication of the remaining cargo fuel.
MTKR Jason Bradley
Meanwhile, the salvage operations for another motor tanker which sank off Mariveles town, MTKR Jason Bradley, is already underway.
“I don’t want to say it is completely under control but we are on top of the situation. All the valves have been closed and oil spill boom has been laid around the incident area,” Gavan said.
The tanker sank at approximately 600 yards away from Mariveles’ shore at a depth of nine meters while loaded with 5,500 liters of diesel fuel.
Lt. Commander Michael John Encina, of the Coast Guard Station Bataan, said salvage equipment have already been put in place in the area and coordination was already made with the ship owner for the salvage operations.
An emergency salvage permit was issued to the salvor on July 27 to formally start the operations.
"There was no observed oil sheen in the area so we can already uninstall the spill booms to allow the salvor to operate freely. The target time to finish the salvage operations is two weeks," Encina said.