Philippines Works to Clear Oil Spill as Salvage Planned for Lost Tanker

The Philippine Coast Guard reports it is not wasting time in its efforts to prevent what could become the worst oil spill in the history of the country potentially damaging Manila Bay. The owners of the fuel tanker Terranova retained a salvage company and they are meeting with the Coast Guard regarding the plans to address the fuel and oil cargo on the vessel.

Bad weather and the aftereffects of the outer bands of the typhoon have been hampering some of the efforts. Divers have been forced to wait for the weather to permit efforts to survey the wreck of the 218-foot-long tanker. The Coast Guard observed the sinking and reported the area is “relatively shallow” at approximately 111 feet (34 meters) in depth.

“We are racing against time to siphon off the oil to avoid an environmental catastrophe,” Rear Admiral Armando Balilo, a spokesperson for the Coast Guard, told a briefing in Manila on Friday. He estimated weather permitting the siphoning of the approximately 1.4 million liters of industrial fuel could take seven days.

The local mayor of the impacted region is saying that they suspect 400 to 500 liters of diesel fuel used to power the vessel has leaked. Yesterday, the Coast Guard warned of a more than two-mile-long oil slick approximately 3.7 miles from shore. High winds and waves from the typhoon were driving the oil. So far, however, the Coast Guard believes the cargo tanks are not leaking.

Philippine Coast Guard is taking steps while a private salvage company has been hired (PGC)

The Coast Guard has deployed its vessels and reports it is laying dispersant and has strung a boom in case of further leaks. The Philippine Navy sent a frigate and two tugs to also assist. Suction skimmers are being deployed.

Shogun Ships Company, owners of the Terranova, has retained a local salvage company, Harbor Star, to lead the salvage efforts. The focus is on pumping the industrial oil cargo from the vessel’s tanks before there is a leak. The company reported it deployed tugboats and salvage equipment to the area and they were meeting with the Coast Guard on Friday.

At the same time, the Coast Guard confirmed it is investigating reports that the vessel was damaged and was being towed when the waves overtook it. They are interviewing the 15 surviving crewmembers. Indications are that the vessel did not break any rules when it departed on Wednesday, but media reports are suggesting it might have experienced an engine problem and required a tow. The master the reports said decided to turn the vessel around due to the high seas.

The Teranova’s cargo is larger than the 2023 incident when another barge, the Princess Empress sank off the coast of Oriental Mindoro. It had 900,000 liters of fuel aboard and it took months to stop the leaks.