More than 161,000 liters of industrial fuel oil (IFO) mixed with seawater have so far been siphoned from sunken tanker MTKR Terranova but the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) admitted that the figure is still far from their daily target.
As of 6 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 22, a total of 161,612 liters of oil and seawater have been drained from the eight cargo oil tanks (COTs) onboard MTKR Terranova, which was carrying 1.4 million liters of IFO when it sank off Limay, Bataan on July 25.
The extraction rate has seen a steady increase since the initial siphoning began on Aug. 19 and the full-blast siphoning on Aug. 21. The breakdown is as follows:
Aug. 19 – 2,350 liters
Aug. 20 – 36,100 liters
Aug. 21 – 42,026 liters
Aug. 22 – 81,136 liters
MTKR Terranova’s contracted salvor, Harbor Star Shipping Services Inc., said the rate of oil flow during the Aug. 22 operation was approximately 7,200 liters per hour. However, this is still far from their siphoning target of 200,000 liters of oil per hour.
“The salvor proposed the 200,000 liters per day [target] but unfortunately, they are still waiting for faster pumps to arrive. Other variables such as pressure underwater and introduction of seawater also affect why they can’t reach the daily target,” Lt. Cdr. Michael John Encina, commander of Coast Guard Station Bataan said.
At present, Encina said the contracted salvor is using five extraction pumps while waiting for two additional pumps from Singapore.
“Just the same, good news pa rin ito kasi wala tayong nakukuhang oil sheen at patuloy ang pagextract ng IFO (Just the same, this is still good news because we have not monitored any oil sheen and the extraction of IFO continues),” the official noted.
Encina said the PCG will assess the current rate of oil extraction with Harbor Star to determine if they can still achieve the two-week timeline for the siphoning operation that they proposed.
MV Mirola 1 gets towed
Meanwhile, MV Mirola 1, a motor vessel that ran aground in Mariveles, Bataan on July 23, has been finally towed on Aug. 22.
MV Mirola 1 was towed by M/tug Marites Asuncion, a tugboat of the contracted salvor Morning Star, and escorted by PCG vessel BRP Panglao (FPB-2402).
The towing operations started at 11:51 a.m. on Aug. 22. It arrived at a shipyard in Barangay Alas-Asin, Mariveles, Bataan, for retrofitting and repair later that night.
“Nadetain na ito (It has been detained) because of violations issued by Coast Guard Mariveles,” Encina said.
MV Mirola 1 has been detained by the PCG for violation of Memorandum Circular 15-12 and Memorandum Circular 07-12 which pertains to leaving port without PCG clearance and master’s declaration of safety departure.
Authorities have also conducted resealing and patching of manhole and air vents of another sunken tanker, MTKR Jason Bradley, in preparation for its refloating operation.
MTKR Jason Bradley sank on July 27 off Mariveles while loaded with 5,500 liters of diesel.
“Patuloy po ang ginagawa na sealing sa port holes, ito ‘yung mga bintana ng barko. Medyo marami kasing nabasag kaya finafabricate po ito ng ating FES Challenger, ‘yung salvor (The sealing of port holes, which are the windows of the vessel, continues. A lot of windows shattered that’s why they are being fabricated by the salvor, FES Challenger),” Encina said.
“Napalutang na ang bow nito at hopefully next week, ang sabi ng salvor mapapalutang na ‘yung buong barko. Subsequently, isa-siphon na ‘yung diesel (The ship’s bow has already been floated and hopefully next week, the salvor said they will try to float the entire ship. Subsequently, the siphoning of diesel will also begin),” he added.