Maritime experts from the United States will arrive in the country to help the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) in curbing the oil spill from the sunken motor tanker (MTKR) Terranova in Limay, Bataan.
PCG spokesperson Rear Adm. Armando Balilo said a seven-man team from the United States Coast Guard (USCG) and US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) will be in town over the weekend to lend their expertise in containing the Bataan oil spill.
The American experts will go to the ground zero on August 5, according to Balilo.
“They intend to help us and lend their expertise sa kino-conduct nating salvage operations (in the salvage operations that we are conducting),” he told reporters in an online press briefing on Wednesday, July 31.
“They will bring small equipment for testing. They will lend their expertise in addressing the aftermath of the oil spill, the coastal management. Then NOAA will advise us on the type of the weather and the most effective method and equipment to contain the oil spill depending on each weather,” he added.
The arrival of the foreign experts could be timely as divers from the contracted salvor, Harbor Star Shipping Services Inc., have yet to finish the underwater sealing of the 24 valves and pipes of MT Terranova.
At present, 19 valves were already sealed but the PCG said that all 24 valves should be capped by the divers from the salvor to avoid potential leaks once the siphoning operations start. Sealing operation was ongoing as of writing.
Since the sealing of the valves and pipes were not finished on Tuesday, the planned siphoning operations of the 1.4 million liters of industrial fuel oil (IFO) from MTKR Terranova was also likely to be postponed.
Lt. Commander Michael John Encina, commander of Coast Guard Station Batangas, said they would wait until 4 p.m. Wednesday to wait for the report of the Harbor Star if the sealing operation will be completed within the day.
“If they finish the sealing today, we’re hoping that by tomorrow we can already start the siphoning process. If not, then we will wait upon its conclusion,” Encina said.
Relatedly, the sister tanker of MTKR Terranova – MTKR Helena Marie – was already prepositioned in Limay since the oil that will be drained from the sunken tanker will be transferred to her. The barge carrying the siphoning equipment was also prepositioned at the ground zero.
The PCG also maintained that only a “minimal” oil sheen has been observed during the latest sea and aerial survey at the ground zero on Wednesday, led by the PCG Commandant Adm. Ronnie Gil Gavan.
However, the PCG confirmed that the oil spill has already reached the shoreline of Cavite.
“Reports about the sighting of oil spill and oil sheen in the shoreline of Cavite have been confirmed. Coordination is being conducted by the Coast Guard Station Cavite with the coastal municipalities, local government units, and other government agencies to mitigate the impact of the spill,” Encina said.
Eight towns in Cavite were declared under a state of calamity due to the impact of the oil spill: Bacoor, Kawit, Noveleta, Rosario, Tanza, Naic, Maragondon, and Ternate.
Meanwhile, reports that the oil spill has reached Bulacan and other nearby provinces were still being validated.
“We do not discount that possibility but for confirmatory, we have to check,” Encina added.