Philippine Coast Guard Makes Progress on Tanker Wreck Cleanup

 

The Philippine Coast Guard and a local salvage contractor are making slow but steady progress on removing oil from the sunken tanker Terra Nova, which went down in severe weather off Bataan last month. 

Terra Nova sank during Typhoon Gaemi on July 25, and it is resting in the shallow waters of Manila Bay off the town of Limay. The vessel had an estimated 370,000 gallons of petroleum on board, and an unknown quantity of oil spilled out of its holds and into the water. 

As of August 19, salvor Harbor Star had removed about 11,000 liters of fuel oil from the vessel's tanks using hot-tapping methods, including 2,500 liters on Monday alone. The company has brought in an extra booster pump to speed up oil siphoning. 

Meanwhile, ongoing monitoring and sampling around the wreck reveal little new spillage, save for a small sheen near the salvor's barge. Shoreline oiling has largely dissipated, and Philippines' Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) says that all seafood products from the area are now safe to eat. 

The Terra Nova's ownership interests have pledged to pay damages to those affected by the spill, according to Philippine Department of Justice Undersecretary Raul Vasquez. "We used the Mindoro [MT Princess Empress] oil spill as a template, and the good news is that the owner of Terra Nova, its insurer, and the IOPC immediately stepped forward," he told Manila Times. The provincial government of Cavite - where fishing interests were most affected - is seeking 10 million Philippine pesos (about $180,000) in compensation.

A team of seven advisors from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Coast Guard have finished up a technical-assistance deployment to assist the cleanup effort, and are returning to the United States. NOAA's spill modeling tools were used by Philippine authorities to predict the course of drifting slicks. 

Salvage operations also continue for two smaller tankers, the Jason Bradley and the Mirola 1, which went down shortly after the Terra Nova. The work currently focuses on plugging tanks and voids to prevent further release of petroleum.