PCG: Oil spill recovery in sunken MT Princess Empress completed

The oil spill recovery operations in the sunken MT Princess Empress off the coast of Naujan, Oriental Mindoro has been completed, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) announced.

At the Saturday News Forum in Quezon City, PCG spokesperson Rear Admiral Armand Balilo said that as of June 16, 2023, based on the footages caught by a remotely operated vehicle (ROV), “Wala nang laman ang mga tangke so dineclare na nila completed na ‘yung oil spill recovery doon sa Mindoro.”

(The tanks are empty so they declared that the oil spill recovery in Mindoro is already completed.)

The sunken MT Princess Empress lies in the waters of Naujan, Oriental Mindoro as the Philippine Coast Guard announced on Saturday, June 17, 2023, the completion of oil removal and recovery operations. All eight cargo oil tanks are now empty, the PCG says. The MT Princess Empress, which was carrying 900,000 liters of industrial fuel, sank on Feb. 28, 2023. PCG

“Wala na pong oil sa walong tangke na inaakala na meron pang tatagas. Maliban na lang doon sa mga pipes na may drips pakonti-konti,” Balilo said.

(There is no more oil in the eight tanks that were suspected of still having leaks. However there were still a few drips from the pipes.)

The MT Princess Empress, which was carrying 900,000 liters of industrial oil, sank on February 28 due to strong waves.

In a separate statement, the PCG said that during the final inspection and briefing, the Malayan Towage and Salvage Corp. (MSTC) — the contractor hired to spearhead the oil spill recovery efforts — assured the Coast Guard of completing the operations by showing the eight main oil tanks and the ship's operational tank with no trace of oil.

MSTC chartered Diving Support Vessel (DSV) Fire Opal for the recovery efforts.

The PCG said its Incident Management Team together with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Office of Civil Defense (OCD), Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), Department of Science and Technology (DOST), and Oriental Mindoro local government unit witnessed the final operation of the salvage company.

The salvage company started its oil spill recovery operations on May 29, 2023, with 20 days to accomplish its objective.

With the completion of DSV Fire Opal's operations, the PCG said MTSC told the agency that two of their tugboats would continue to monitor and conduct containment operations for oil that may leak from the fuel pipes of MT Princess Empress. —KG, GMA Integrated News