1 dead, oil spill feared after tanker capsized in Bataan waters

OIL SPILL. The sunken Motor Tanker Terra Nova in Manila Bay. The PCG said Thursday (July 25, 2024) that the tanker was carrying 1.4 million liters of industrial fuel oil. (Photo courtesy of PCG)

Authorities are rushing efforts to prevent a repeat of last year’s disastrous oil spill off Mindoro Island after a local oil tanker carrying 1.4 million liters of industrial fuel sank about 7 kilometers east of Limay town in Bataan province early Thursday, according to the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG).

Rear Adm. Armand Balilo, the PCG spokesperson, said MT Terra Nova capsized and sank at 1:10 a.m. on Thursday in rough waters close to the mouth of Manila Bay while the oil tanker was on its way to Iloilo province.

READ: Oil spill from sunken tanker off Bataan may reach Manila shores – PCG

He warned that if all the ship’s cargo leaked, it would become the worst oil spill in the country’s history.

“We are racing against time and we will try to do our best to contain it immediately and stop the fuel from leaking,” he said.

“There is a big danger that Manila will be affected, even the shoreline of Manila if the fuel [leaks] because it is within Manila Bay,” he added.

Balilo said 16 of the 17 crew on board have been rescued. The body of a missing crew member was found on Thursday afternoon off Limay.

The ship is 34 meters underwater, which is “considerably shallow,” he said.

Balilo said the surviving crew told the PCG that their ship left Bataan on Wednesday night and was hit by big waves as they were about to sail away from the waters of Corregidor.

“At about 10 p.m., they felt that the waves were strong and the captain decided to return,” he said. “But immediately, they had a hard time returning because they were met by strong waves and the term that the crew used was ‘sumalok sila ng alon’ (scooped up waves) until the ship was filled with water and they completely capsized.”

Manila and nearby provinces, including Bataan, then were experiencing torrential rains and winds from Supertyphoon “Carina” (international name: Gaemi).

Lone fatality

In a statement on Thursday night, MT Terra Nova’s ship manager, Portavaga Ship Management, identified the dead crew member as Second Mate Alvin Llandelar. He was 40 and married.

An aerial inspection on Thursday showed an oil spill about 3.7 km long east of Lamao Point in Limay and moving east to northeast carried by strong currents, according to Balilo.

What was leaking, for now, was the “working fuel” used by the ship’s engines, he said.

“So far, the oil spill is minimal,” according to Balilo.

He said marine environmental protection personnel had been mobilized to deal with the spill.

PCG Commandant Adm. Ronnie Gil Gavan has ordered deploying three 44-meter multi-role response vessels to augment ongoing oil spill response operations in Bataan.

“These vessels will start the application of oil dispersants to immediately mitigate the impact, especially during the period where siphoning is being prepared,” Gavan said.

He said the PCG was targeting to finish siphoning the industrial fuel from the 22-year-old tanker in seven days.

Mindoro spillage

Siphoning would “not be very technical” and could be done quickly to protect the waters of Bataan and Manila Bay “against environmental, social, economic, financial and political impacts,” said Balilo.

In February last year, a tanker carrying 800,000 liters of industrial fuel sank below 369 meters about 14 km northeast of Balisangan Point, Pola, Oriental Mindoro.

Almost four months later, most of the cargo of the MR Princess Empress had either leaked away or been siphoned off.

The Mindoro oil spill reached as far as Palawan and Batangas provinces.

President Marcos ordered the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to undertake measures to mitigate the environmental damage that might result from an oil spill from the Terra Nova.

The President said the DENR can work with the Department of Science and Technology in making immediate meteorological assessments, referring to the location of the vessel, and the speed and direction of the winds and currents.

“Hopefully, we can catch it (the oil spill) before [it makes] landfall. But with the seas being so rough, it will be a bit more difficult,” he said.

Fishermen cautioned

He said the authorities would have to determine which coastal areas the oil spill was headed to “so that we can try and prepare for that.”

In Bataan, Limay Vice Mayor Richie David said a salvage operation would be started once the weather conditions improved.

He cautioned residents against fishing because oil spills could occur during the operation.

Bataan Gov. Joet Garcia assured residents that the local government was working to prevent an oil spill.

Jochele Magracia, a resident of Limay’s Barangay Lamao and chair of Young Bataeños for Environment Advocacy Network (YoungBEAN), said they were worried about the livelihood of their community.

In Lamao alone, hundreds of fishermen would be affected by an oil spill. These numbers do not include others in the province who also rely on the sea for their livelihood.

“The impact of the typhoon continues on our community. For several days, the fishermen couldn’t venture to fish because of the strong waves caused by the typhoon, and the houses here were also flooded and it became even more painful because we heard that there was an oil spill here,” said Magracia.

Environmentalist Derek Cabe said what happened was an “additional disaster waiting to devastate the marine resources and the very source of food and livelihood of the community.”

“This is the reason why we should demand accountability from the corporations and the authorities that allowed the ship to sail despite the typhoon,” said Cabe, who is a coordinator of the Nuclear/Coal-Free Bataan Movement.

Environmental group Greenpeace described the sunken tanker as a “ticking time bomb” that further imperils the health, safety and livelihoods of coastal communities in Bataan and around Manila Bay. —WITH REPORTS FROM MELVIN GASCON, GREG REFRACCION, JOANNA ROSE AGLIBOT AND INQUIRER RESEARCH