Sulpicio picks foreign salvage firm to retrieve toxic cargo
By Riza T. Olchondra, Cynthia Balana, Leila Salaverria
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 03:31:00 07/15/2008
Filed Under: Sulpicio ferry disaster, Maritime Accidents, Waterway & Maritime Transport, Chemicals
MANILA, Philippines—Sulpicio Lines Inc. announced Monday that Titan Salvage Corp. had been contracted to retrieve toxic chemicals inside the sunken MV Princess of the Stars.
Sulpicio Lines spokesperson Victoria Florido said the salvage plans would be released shortly, in close consultation with the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC).
Florido said the operation would take a maximum of 60 days from the signing of the contract. The mobilization of the equipment and personnel from abroad for the operation is being undertaken immediately, she said.
Titan, a marine salvage company based in the United Kingdom, Singapore and the United States, has done several projects in the Philippines, including the recovery in 2004 of Superferry 14 that was set ablaze by Abu Sayyaf terrorists on Manila Bay.
UN-EU experts
A three-member team of experts from the United Nations and the European Union will visit Sibuyan Island in Romblon province on Tuesday to assess a potential environmental disaster from the highly toxic pesticide cargo and bunker fuel in the Princess of the Stars.
The team, which includes a marine chemist, arrived on Friday in Manila for a weeklong fact-finding mission upon the request of the Philippine government.
Concern centers on the cargo of endosulfan, carbofuran and methamidophos, all highly toxic chemicals stored in a container van in the ship’s hull, plus the 10,000 liters of bunker fuel which could cause a major ecological disaster.
Also, unknown quantities of other highly toxic pesticides—namely antracol, tamaron, nicolsamide and carbamate—have been reported to be among the cargo.
Potential disaster
“If not handled properly, this could be a disaster upon a disaster,” said the UN team’s Vladimir Sakharov.
“Leakage of the ferry’s toxic cargo would cause major ecological damage and thereby have a terrible impact on the livelihood of people living in the region,” he said.
DOTC Undersecretary Elena Bautista, head of Task Force Princess of the Stars, was scheduled to meet the UN experts Monday.
Bautista said the UN team would determine if there is a need to dispatch a bigger group of specialists to Sibuyan Island to salvage the toxic endosulfan cargo.
“They will be there to make an assessment and join up with the team from Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources that has established a laboratory on site so that they can more regularly test the water samples,” she said in a television interview.
Daily testing
Health Secretary Francisco Duque said the government was testing the waters in the vicinity of the ship daily in an attempt to prevent food poisoning and other problems from breaking out in Romblon province.
“The threat is still there. It’s an ongoing threat, so we are monitoring through testing of the water every day. That is the agreement in the task force,” Duque said.
The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) Monday said it was fielding three more ships to Sibuyan in anticipation of operations to refloat or tow to shore the ill-fated ferry or to remove the toxic cargo on board.
PCG spokesperson Lt. Cmdr. Armand Balilo also appealed to those wanting to send relief goods to Sibuyan to deliver the goods to the PCG headquarters in Manila.
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