MKTR Terranova oil siphoning to end Tuesday; over 1.3M liters of waste collected

The oil siphoning operation for sunken motor tanker Terranova will be concluded on Tuesday, according to the Philippines Coast Guard (PCG) on Monday.

In a statement, the PCG said the latest siphoning operation on Sunday collected “mostly water.”

“Coast Guard Station Bataan Commander, CG Lieutenant Commander Michael John Encina, said the 08 SEPTEMBER 2024 RECOVERED OILY WASTE WERE MOSTLY WATER,” the PCG said.

“However, the siphoning operation will continue until tomorrow, 10 September 2024, to ensure all the IFO cargo will be extracted from the sunken MTKR Terranova,” it added.

From August 19 to September 8, a total of 1,304,878 liters of oily waste have been collected from MTRK Terranova—which was carrying 1.4 million liters of industrial fuel oil when it sank.

• August 19 - 2,350 liters
• August 20 - 36,100 liters
• August 21 - 42,026 liters
• August 22 - 81,136 liters
• August 23 - 17,103 liters
• August 24 - 121,724 liters
• August 25 - 101,603 liters
• August 26 - 104,202 liters
• August 27 - 67,871 liters
• August 28 - 32,187 liters
• August 29 - 97,011 liters
• August 30 - unloading of oily waste
• August 31 - 129,292 liters
• September 1 - 222,292 liters
• September 2 to 7 - no operations
• September 7 - 52,355 liters
• September 8 - 8,809 liters

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 on July 25.

Aside from MTKR Terranova, the PCG also responded to the sunken MTKR Jason Bradley and grounded MV Mirola 1 in Bataan.

For MTKR Jason Bradley, contracted salvor FES Challenger mobilized its pumps and siphoning pipes to start its seawater siphoning on Monday.

“FES Challenger said the target date to refloat MTKR Jason Bradley will be on Saturday, 14 September 2024. It will be brought to Diving Industry Shipyard, Barangay Alas-asin, Mariveles, Bataan for further operations,” the PCG said.

“The Oil Spill Response Team (OSRT) patrolled the vicinity waters near the sunken vessel. No oil sheen was observed during the survey,” it added.

Due to the impact of the oil spill, a state of calamity was declared in the entire province of Bataan as well as in nine cities and towns in Cavite. —Joviland Rita/KG, GMA Integrated News