Sunken cargo ship watched for oil leakage

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya—Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) officials in Cagayan on Monday allayed fears of a possible oil spill from the cargo ship that sank off the coasts of Aparri town on Saturday.

“We are closely monitoring the ship, but right now, there are no signs of any fuel leakage,” said Senior Chief Petty Officer Ernesto Relon, acting PCG station commander in Aparri.

He said he was hoping that the MV Chang Da 216, which was loaded with magnetite sand, can still be salvaged to prevent any of its fuel from spilling out into the sea.

On Saturday, the ship sank about 1.5 nautical miles (2.7 kilometers) from the coastal village of Punta in Aparri after it was battered by strong and huge waves while anchored near the mouth of the Aparri delta.

The ship is Belize-registered but owned by Chinese firm Fuzhou Hualong Shipping Co. Ltd. It was contracted by San You Philippines Ltd. to transport magnetite sand extracted by the firm from its ongoing black sand mining operations in Cagayan, police said.

Of the ship’s 15 Chinese crew members, one, identified as Lin Guangbiao, drowned while another, identified as Lin He, was reported missing. Their companion, Tian Jiliang, swam to shore in Punta village and survived.

Another crew member, Xu Chenchen, suffered broken fingers, said Chief Inspector Romar Pacis, Aparri police chief.

The 12 other Chinese sailors, led by ship captain, Lin Zhangbiao, and four Filipinos, including two Bureau of Customs employees, a San You agent and a representative of the Bureau of Immigration (BI), took a lifeboat and were rescued on Sunday dawn in Linao village, also in Aparri.

“[Lin Guangbiao, Lin He and Tian] refused to join the others in a lifeboat reportedly out of panic. They instead took a light craft which was eventually destroyed by strong waves, forcing them to swim,” said Eva Antiporda, alien control officer of the the BI office in Cagayan Valley.