Oil spill to be cleared this week

SIPHONING of oil reserves from the sunken MV St. Thomas Aquinas is expected to be completed today or tomorrow.

As of yesterday, the joint diving team of the Malayan Towage and Salvage Corp. (MTSC) and the Nippon Salvage, siphoned six of the 11 oil tanks in the ship or a total of 2,000 liters of fuel oil.

“Since there was no mechanical failure, the siphoning operations are ahead of schedule. The weather condition was also good,” said Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) Cebu Station Commander Weniel Azcuna.

The team started the drilling and siphoning of the six tanks last Friday. They continued drilling the five remaining tanks during the weekend.

“By Wednesday, there will be no more environmental threats,” Azcuna added.

After the siphoning of oil, evaluation on the presence of the ship which is 40 meters below the water will be initiated.

“Right now, the ship hasn’t hampered vessels passing through the area. It doesn’t pose navigational hazards,” he said.

PCG Cebu will tap the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) and the Cebu Port Authority (CPA) in evaluating the dangers from the sunken ship.

“Though there are no problems now, we have to consider that should the CPA expand and include bigger vessels, there may be a problem,” he said.

The Cosmopolitan Funeral Homes and 2GO have begun preparing for the mass burial of the 47 unidentified cadavers on Sept. 25.

The body of 39-year-old Ma. Elena Quinitio might be included in the mass burial if her common-law husband fails to present proper documentation for the claim.

“I asked the parents to give a waiver in favor of the husband, but they refused,” Cosmopolitan General Manager Bong Ebo said. The lot for the apartment-type niche is 35.75 square meters and will cost 2GO P333,804.  Correspondent Jose Santino S. Bunachita