PCG: 2 tanks on sunken MT Princess Empress remain intact with oil

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) on Saturday said two tanks on the sunken MT Princess Empress remained intact with oil in them, and these would be drilled and the oil would be siphoned out next week.

“Ang plano ay next week, posibleng butasan na ‘yung mga tangke ay pagkatapos po noon ay sipsipin na ‘yung mga natitirang langis,” PCG spokesperson Rear Admiral Armando Balilo said in a news forum.

(The plan is the tanks will be drilled and the remaining oil siphoned out next week.)

“Merong dalawang tangke na kumpleto pa ‘yung langis, at ‘yun ang ini-aim na matanggal nang tuluyan para hindi na umagos,” Balilo added.

(There are two tanks where the oil is still intact, and that is what we intend to remove to prevent further spills.)

However, salvage operators have yet to determine whether there was still oil that needed to be siphoned out from the other tanks.

The National Task Force (NTF) Oil Spill said all is set for the final cleanup operations in Oriental Mindoro which would take 20 to 30 days.

“The last stage of the cleanup operations would take around 20 to 30 days if the weather permits, after which the rehabilitation and final transition to normalcy would begin in the next few days,” it said.

According to the NTF, the Dynamic Support Vessel “Fire Opal" had started siphoning operations to remove the remaining oil from the sunken MT Princess Empress.

Balilo said the cleanup operations are set to be completed on June 19.

“Dapat by June 19 nasipsip na lahat. Mukhang on target naman sila,” Balilo said.

(By June 19 all oil should have been siphoned. They seemed to be on target.)

The MT Princess Empress sank on February 28 off Najuan, Oriental Mindoro while carrying 900,000 liters of industrial fuel. — DVM, GMA Integrated News