MTKR Terranova oil spill siphoning underway —PCG

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said the initial siphoning of sunken motor tanker Terranova in Limay, Bataan started on Tuesday.

“Today, yan po ang activity ng ating salvor, ang Harbor Star, na mag-conduct po ng initial siphoning to assess the flow rate of oil,” PCG Bataan Station commander Lieutenant Commander Michael John Encina said in a press conference.

(Today, that is the activity of our salvor Harbor Star, to conduct an initial siphoning to assess the flow rate of oil.)

According to Encina, the salvor conducted the initial siphoning after all 24 valves of MTKR Terranova were secured.

On July 25, one crew member died and 16 others were rescued after MTKR Terranova capsized and sank 3.6 nautical miles east off Lamao Point in Limay, according to the PCG.

MTKR Terronova was carrying 1.4 million liters of industrial fuel oil when the incident happened.

Initially, the PCG said only 300,000 of the 1.4 million liters of oil need to be siphoned to float the motor tanker. 

But now, Encina said all of the 1.4 million liters of oil will be removed to lessen the effect in case of a “worst case scenario.” 

“May mga in-adopt lang tayo to ensure na yung maximum risk assessment natin is applied para lessen lang po yung magiging effect if there will be worst case scenario. So ang gusto natin dito is tanggalin lahat ng mga contaminants,” he said.

(We have adopted some measures to ensure that our maximum risk assessment is applied so that the effect will be lessened if there is a worst-case scenario. So. we want to remove all contaminants.)

“For that matter, yung sa kukunin muna yung 300,000 liters, there is a high risk po kasi na magkaroon ng problema along the course of afloating the vessel. So the more contaminants present inside the water tanker where the conduct of salvage operation, the higher the risk,” he added.

(For that matter, the previous plan to take the 300,000 liters first, there is a high risk because there will be a problem along the course of afloating the vessel. So the more contaminants present inside the motor tanker during the salvage operation, the higher the risk.)

A total of 352,179 people in coastal barangays in Cavite have been affected by the oil spill that has reached their shores, with lost income amounting to nearly P18 million each day, according to the Office of Civil Defense (OCD).

Bataan has been placed under a state of calamity due to the oil spill from MTKR Terranova and two other ships. —VAL, GMA Integrated News