CITY OF SAN FERNANDO---The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) on Friday reported that oil waste siphoned from the sunken Motor Tanker (MT) Terranova has reached 806,254 liters.
This quantity is more than half of its 1.4 million liters of industrial fuel on board when the ship sank off near Limay, Bataan on July 25, 2024 amid Typhoon Carina.
The contracted salvor, Harbor Star, collected 232,187 liters of oil on Wednesday, doubling the average amount siphoned per day since the operation began on August 19, 2024.
The PCG said the rate of oily waste flow on Wednesday reached 24,614 liters per hour, compared to 12,944 liters per hour on Monday.
Harbor Star’s divers also reported that no leaks were observed.
The BRP Sindangan, a PCG vessel, earlier spotted an oil sheen 500 meters northeast of ground zero.
The Coast Guard said it used water cannon to agitate the waters and encourage its breakdown, while the collected oil samples from the sunken tanker are being analyzed.
Meanwhile, resealing and patching of MT Jason Bradley’s manhole and air vents is being implemented by its contracted salvor, FES Challenger.
MV Mirola 1, on the other hand, has been secured and moored at the Diving Industry Shipyard, Barangay Alas-asin in Mariveles, Bataan.