Fears that sunken ship will spill oil allayed

ILOILO CITY—The Coast Guard said there were no signs of an oil spill on the coast of Antique near where a cargo vessel sank on Sunday.

Lt. Glen Daraug, Coast Guard station commander in Antique, said Coast Guard men saw an oil sheen or a thin film of oil near the site of the sinking on Monday but there was no indication of a massive leakage of oil from the sunken vessel.

“We are continuously monitoring the site but so far, there is no indication of an oil spill,” Daraug said in a phone interview on Tuesday.

The vessel MV Seaford 2, owned by Seaford Shipping Inc., sank on Sunday morning after taking in water.

The vessel was on its way to the port of Lipata in Culasi town in Antique from Lugait in Misamis Oriental when it met an accident on Saturday.

All 18 crew members were rescued. The ship was carrying 35,000 bags of cement and 7,000 liters of diesel when it sank off the capital town of San Jose in Antique.

San Jose Mayor Rony Molina also said there was no sign of an oil spill. He said residents near the area reported the smell of fuel for several hours on Monday.