Sunken oil tanker found off Pola with ROV help

DISASTER AT SEA An expert team from the Japan Disaster Relief helps the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) in containing the oil spill from the sunken fuel tanker, MT Princess Empress, off the waters of Oriental Mindoro in this photo taken on March 16. —PCG PHOTO

CITY OF CALAPAN—The fuel tanker that sank off the waters of Naujan, Oriental Mindoro, on Feb. 28 was located on Tuesday through the aid of a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) from a Japanese vessel that joined in the search for the vessel that has been leaking industrial oil in the waters between Batangas and Mindoro for almost a month.

“At last, MT Princess Empress has been located,” said Oriental Mindoro Gov. Humerlito Dolor, in a Facebook post on Tuesday. His message was accompanied by a photo of the sunken tanker, which was on its way to Iloilo province and carrying 800,000 liters of industrial oil when it sank.

At a press conference Tuesday, Dolor presented initial underwater photos and videos of MT Princess Empress captured by the ROV. “We can use these photos to come up with a concrete plan on how to remove the oil on the ship or cover up holes if any to prevent it from further spilling into the sea,” he said.

The ROV, which arrived in the province on Monday onboard its mother vessel, Shin Nichi Maru, was contracted by RDC Reield Marine Services, the sunken ship’s operator.

3 provinces hit

“We expect an official report from the company in three to five days,” Dolor said, noting that the report would help guide government and private groups on the next steps to contain the oil spill.

Jessie Floren, Oceana’s geographic information system expert, in a separate Facebook post, said the vessel’s coordinates “suggest that this is inside the municipal waters of Pola, Oriental Mindoro.”

According to the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), citing reports by the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority (Namria), the actual depth of the ship’s location is 389.1 meters and 13.89 kilometers northeast of Balingawan Point in Pola.

The tanker is the source of the oil spill which has been affecting coastal communities in Oriental Mindoro, Palawan and Antique. On Monday, the oil spill was also detected on Verde Island in Batangas City, where the resource-rich Verde Island Passage is located.

Floren, in an online interview, said the sunken ship was found some 1.2 km away from its initial location in Naujan where it capsized and sank.

Senior Undersecretary Carlito Galvez Jr., the Department of National Defense officer in charge, said the US government, through a message relayed by US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin III, had also committed to help in cleanup efforts.

Eight experts from the US Coast Guard (USCG) arrived in Pola on Tuesday to support the oil spill response, the US Embassy in Manila said.

Five members from the USCG National Strike Force will lend their expertise and assess the affected areas to come up with ways to contain and clean up the oil spill, it said.

Water sampling

Meanwhile, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said it placed spill booms in mangroves within Barangay San Agapito on Verde Island on Tuesday morning, where traces of oil were found a day earlier. A shoreline cleanup was done in Barangay San Antonio, also on Verde Island.

Batangas City Mayor Beverley Rose Dimacuha ordered local government offices to continue monitoring the spill that already reached Verde Island.

“The city Enro (environment and natural resources office) immediately conducted water sampling from the sea around Verde Island and Barangays Ilijan, Pagkilatan and Dela Paz to test if it is contaminated,” the city public information office said in a Facebook post on Monday.

The PCG also placed the coastal towns of San Juan, Tingloy, Lobo and Calatagan, all in Batangas, under monitoring for signs of oil spill. INQ