Salvors start siphoning fuel from sunken ship off Negros Occidental

ILOILO CITY, Philippines – The salvors of the ill-fated MV Asia Malaysia have started operations to siphon off the remaining fuel from the vessel.

Commodore Athelo Ybañez, Coast Guard Western Visayas commander, said Thursday that the salvors supported by two barges and a tugboat have been clearing cargo, debris, plastic cases and other obstruction to the fuel tanks of the sunken Asia Malaysia.

Ybañez said the salvors hired by ship owner Tran-Asia Shipping Inc. will start siphoning the fuel within this week.

The siphoning of the fuel was declared a priority of the Coast Guard to prevent a possible leak and oil spill from the vessel which lies three miles off the coast of Manapla town in Negros Occidental.

The 2,439-ton vessel sank on July 31, a few hours after its 178 passengers and crew members were transferred to passing ships and boats. The vessel was carrying an estimated 21,000 liters of fuel when it sank.

These include 5,000 liters of diesel fuel in its engine and 16,000 liters of a mixture of bunker and diesel fuel in its storage tankers.

Ybañez said divers have sealed the fuel tanks with clay cement as an initial measure before the fuel would be pumped out and transferred to storage tanks.

Trans Asia has released P4,000 in compensation to each of the passengers, according to Dexter Viñan, legal counsel of the shipping firm.

But he said only 63 passengers have so far claimed the compensation. “We have informed the passengers and they can claim their compensation upon presentation of their proof of identity,” Viñan told the Philippine Daily Inquirer in a telephone interview on Thursday.

Most of the passengers left their cargo and belongings when they transferred from the listing vessel a few hours before it sank.

Viñan said only cargo and personal belongings that were declared and deposited and those covered by a bill of lading would be subject to compensation by the shipping line.

A bill of lading is a document wherein a shipper acknowledges receipt of a good or cargo including its type, quantity and destination.