CITY OF SAN FERNANDO --- The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) reported on Tuesday that some 506,000 liters of oily waste has been siphoned from the Motor Tanker (MT) Terranova which sank off the coast of Bataan at the height of Typhoon Carina last July 25, 2024.
The PCG said that the contracted salvor, Harbor Star, collected the oil from August 19 to 26, 2024.
The largest amount of oily waste collected so far was 121,724 liters on Saturday, followed by 104,202 liters on Monday, and 101,603 on Sunday.
Last week, the PCG said the siphoning of 1.4 million liters of industrial fuel oil cargo on board the MT Terranova is targeted to be completed in 14 days by Harbor Star.
The salvor arrived on August 21, 2024 off the waters of Limay, Bataan, to siphon 200,000 liters of oil-seawater mixture daily.
The PCG said that to date, the flow rate of oily waste has reached 12,944 liters per hour.
BRP Sindangan, a PCG vessel, spotted an oil sheen at 500 meters northeast of ground zero and used its water canon to agitate the waters and encourage its breakdown.
The PCG said that measures for the other vessels --- MT Jason Bradley and MV Mirola 1 --- are also being undertaken to prevent the spread of any oil spill.
MT Jason Bradley is undergoing re-sealing and patching of its manhole and air vents by its contracted salvor, FES Challenger.
Coast Guard Special Operations Force divers conducted an underwater survey of the sunken vessel and found no oil sheen in the surrounding waters.
An oil spill response team has also conducted coastal and maritime patrol in the waters of Sitio Bagong Sibol, Barangay Mt. View, Mariveles, Bataan.
The MV Mirola 1, meanwhile, is securely moored at Diving Industry Shipyard in Mariveles, Bataan.
An oil spill response team reported that seawater was being siphoned from inside the vessel compartments, the PCG said.