FILE PHOTO: Villagers in Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro collect the oil spill from sunken MT Princess Empress using indigenous booms made of coconut husks, fishnets and jute sacks in an effort to protect their coastal resources in this photo taken on April 1, 2023. The oil spill continues to take its toll on the livelihood of local fishermen. (PHOTO COURTESY OF KALIKASAN PEOPLE’S NETWORK FOR THE ENVIRONMENT)
MANILA, Philippines — The Office of Civil Defense (OCD) on Thursday said more than 84 percent of the coastlines affected by the massive oil spill after a tanker submerged in Oriental Mindoro has been “acceptably cleaned.”
As of Wednesday, the OCD’s bulletin stated that of the 74.71 kilometers estimated total length of affected coastlines, around 62.953 or 84.26 percent has been “acceptably cleaned,” while 11.757 kilometers (15.74 percent) have yet to achieve the benchmark.
Meanwhile, 6,801 liters of oil waste while 300,603 liters of “oil contaminated wastes” has been collected in the said coastlines.
OCD administration Ariel Nepomuceno said a siphoning machine from Singapore is set to arrive in the country to recover the remaining oil stored inside the submerged oil tanker.
This equipment, which will arrive around the end of the month, is expected to siphon what remains of the estimated 900,000 liters of industrial fuel oil by June.
The oil spill ensued after MT Princess Empress sank on February 28, in Naujan, Oriental Mindoro after experiencing engine trouble due to rough sea condition.
The spillage reached as far as Verde Island in Batangas, and Taytay town in Palawan.
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