Oil begins leaking from Philippine tanker that sank in Manila Bay, coast guard says

The cargo of industrial fuel oil on a tanker that sank during stormy weather in Manila Bay has started leaking in small quantities, the Philippine Coast Guard said Saturday.

Authorities were busy launching a delicate underwater operation to remove the highly toxic cargo from the sunken ship, which has remained intact, in an effort to prevent a major environmental crisis.

The 65-meter-long tanker Terra Nova was carrying about 1.4 million liters of industrial fuel oil stored in watertight tanks when it was battered by huge waves. The ship apparently developed engine problems and subsequently took on water. The ship set off from Bataan province, west of Manila, on a domestic voyage.

The crew struggled to steer the tanker back to port, but it sank early Thursday morning. Sixteen crew members were rescued, but one drowned, said coast guard spokesman Rear Admiral Armando Balilo.

Divers reached the tanker, which the Coast Guard said was at a relatively shallow depth of 34 meters (111 feet). They saw small amounts of cargo leaking from a valve in one of the several compartments, although the tanks were intact.

Oil slick grows to 14 kilometers

An oil slick near the rough seas where the tanker sank off the coast of Bataan province’s Limay city is now 12 to 14 kilometers (7.5 to 9 miles) long, Balilo said, citing an aerial survey. But, he added, the slick is not very viscous and not deep black in color, indicating that there is still no major spill.

He said the leaking oil may have come from the small tank that powered the ship’s engine, but also from the tanker’s cargo.

“It’s really an oil spill now,” Balilo said. “The amount is minimal and manageable and hopefully it will stay that way until we can start siphoning.”

The oil spill was carried by ocean currents to towns in Batangas and Cavite provinces, south of Manila. Those towns were advised to prepare to contain any oil that could reach their shores. A town in Bataan province has imposed an indefinite ban on fishing in waters that may have been contaminated by the spill, the Coast Guard said.

The owner of the sunken tanker has hired a private company to transfer its cargo, an operation that could begin Sunday and take a week, Balilo said. Three coast guard ships carrying personnel and equipment for containing oil spills have been deployed and have begun laying floating booms in the affected waters.

Balilo compared the scale of the potential oil spill to the disaster caused by the sinking of another Philippine oil tanker, the MT Princess Empress, which was carrying much less fuel oil, in February last year off the coast of Oriental Mindoro province, south of Manila.

It took about three months to contain the oil spill. The spill caused extensive damage to coral reefs and mangrove forests in an area known for its rich biodiversity. Tens of thousands of fishermen and beach resorts were also affected.

Manila’s coastline is a major tourist and business hub, home to the main seaport, a historic public park, the US embassy, ​​luxury hotels and restaurants, and huge shopping malls. There are also land reclamation projects underway in the bay for upscale entertainment and tourism complexes with casinos. For years, the bay has been notorious for its pollution, but famous for its picturesque sunsets.