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, 2023. (Photo from the Philippine Coast Guard)
MANILA, Philippines — A United States’ anchor handling vessel containing additional support that will help the country’s ongoing cleanup efforts following an oil spill that began in the waters of Oriental Mindoro province, has arrived at Subic Bay, the Office of the Civil Defense (OCD) announced.
The OCD said that the Pacific Valkyrie, which is carrying a submersible remotely operated vehicle (ROV), arrived early Tuesday morning at Subic Bay, Zambales.
It added that the ROV would conduct a video and sonar survey of the sunken MT Princess Empress.
“The ROV can take still photographs and carry a payload of 150 lbs. It has function manipulators capable of working at depth and auxiliary servos for hydraulic tool operations. It also has a salvage basket that can bear 4000 lbs,” the OCD said in a statement.
The agency also explained that the “wreck survey will provide additional situational data on the shipwreck, which will assist in determining solutions to salvage the vessel and its content.”
Apart from the ROV, the US government will also send containment booms that will be used to control the oil spread, along with personal protective equipment (PPEs), vehicles, and vessels, among other support equipment.
Experts from the US Coast Guard, Navy, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will also arrive in the country to join the cleanup efforts.
“We welcome this assistance coming from our US counterparts. We are confident that this initiative would greatly help our assessment efforts, thereby enabling us to implement the most effective containment and cleanup strategy,” National Disaster Risk Reduction and executive director and Civil Defense administrator Undersecretary Ariel Nepomuceno said.
To date, a total of 10,206 liters of oil-mixed water and 72,643 kilos of oil-contaminated debris had been collected in these cleanup operations, the OCD reported.
Over 36,000 families were affected by the oil spill incident, and the whole province of Oriental Mindoro is currently under a state of calamity.
On February 28, the MT Princess Empress, loaded with 800,000 liters of industrial fuel oil, sank in the waters of Naujan.
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