The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) announced on Friday that 97.43% of the oil from the sunken motor tanker MT Terranova in Limay, Bataan, had been successfully recovered, avoiding an “environmental catastrophe.”
However, 37,867 liters of its oil cargo were declared lost.
The Philippine-flagged tanker went down with 1.4 million litres of industrial fuel oil on July 25 in rough seas churned by Typhoon Gaemi, killing one crew member.
The contracted salvor, Harbor Star, reported that a total of 1,415,954 liters of oil and 17,725 kilograms of solid oily waste were recovered from the sunken tanker.
“The salvor informed us that we have recovered 96 percent of the oil waste,” Lieutenant Commander John Encina said in video comments shared with the press by the Philippine Coast Guard.
“What we’re getting now is mostly water.”
The remaining 37,867 liters, representing 2.57% of the total oil cargo, were lost due to various factors such as biodegradation, dissipation, absorption by sorbent booms, and unpumpable sludge left in the tanks.
Government agencies involved in the undertaking decided at a meeting Thursday to announce on Friday the “conclusion of the syphoning operations”, said Encina, who is supervising the effort.
One of the worst oil spills in Philippine history occurred in February 2023, when a tanker carrying 800,000 litres of industrial fuel oil sank off the central island of Mindoro.
Diesel fuel and thick oil from that vessel contaminated the waters and beaches along the coast of Oriental Mindoro province, devastating the fishing and tourism industries.
The oil dispersed over hundreds of kilometres of waters famed for having some of the most diverse marine life in the world. With AFP
