Bacolod firm helps gov’t fight oil spill in Bataan

Image taken of the Motor Tanker (MT) Terra Nova that sank east off of Lamao Point, Limay, Bataan last July 25, 2024. | PHOTO: Official Facebook page of the Philippine Coast Guard

BACOLOD CITY — A private firm in this city is assisting the government in preventing the spread of an oil spill from the M/T Terra Nova that sank on July 25 off the coast of Limay, Bataan.

“We are not charging anything. It’s our way of assisting the government in our small way in times of crisis,” said Ramon Uy Sr., owner of RU Foundry and Machine Shop Corp.

Their decorticating machines and shredders were fetched by a C-130 Philippine Air Force plane from the Bacolod Silay Airport and flown to Clark International Airport on Sunday, July 28.

Uy said his staff member in Manila would help operate the equipment onsite.

“The machines will be used to decorticate and shred coconut husk and other biodegradable materials to produce spill booms to contain the spread of oil from the capsized oil tanker in Bataan,” he said.

The processed coconut husk and other biodegradable materials, he said, would be placed into a hotdog-like net, then dispersed into the sea for absorption of the oil sleek.

The MT Terra Nova headed for Iloilo City sank on July 25 in rough seas nearly seven kilometers off Limay in Bataan.

Uy said his firm had also assisted in containing previous oil spills in Guimaras and Mindoro.