TANZA, Cavite — The oil spill from the sunken oil tanker in Bataan has already reached the shorelines of Tanza, Naic, Maragondon and Ternate in Cavite, a group of fishermen said Monday.
Fishermen and coastal residents in this coastal town could smell the distinctive odor of the fuel oil that seeped out of the MT Terra Nova.
“What we feared has happened. The oil spilled over much of Manila Bay and ruined the livelihood of many fishermen,” said Ronnel Arambulo, vice chairman of the fisherman’s group Pamalakaya, speaking in Filipino.
A handout photo made available by Greenpeace shows an aerial view taken with a drone of a thick layer of oil across the water’s surface approximately four kilometers from the coastline of Hagonoy, Bulacan province, Philippines, 28 July 2024. The oil spill from capsized tanker MT Terranova, which was carrying 1.4 million liters of oil is now affecting the municipal waters of several areas, including Bulacan, Cavite, and Bataan. Greenpeace is calling on President ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Junior to make oil and gas companies pay for polluting waters and fueling the climate crisis. EPA-EFE/NOEL CELIS / HO
“Here in the town of Tanza alone, it is estimated that more than 5,000 fishermen will be affected if the oil spill is not immediately contained. While the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and authorities seem to be shrugging their shoulders at the extent of the damage caused by the oil spill, the fishermen of Manila Bay who have not yet recovered from the devastation of Typhoon Carina and the monsoon are in dire straits,” Arambulo said.
Pamalakaya said that it will conduct on-site inspections in various municipal waters in Cavite to determine the extent of the oil spill and seek assistance for those whose livelihoods have been affected and compensation for damaged resources.
At the site of the sunken tanker, the siphoning off of the industrial fuel oil that the MT Terra Nova was carrying when it sank off Limay Bataan was set to begin Tuesday after leaking valves were sealed.
The PCG said 14 of the 24 tank valves of the sunken vessel were sealed on Monday by divers of Harbor Star Shipping Services, which was hired by Shogun Ships Company Inc. (SSCI), owner of Terra Nova, to salvage the tanker that sank on July 25.
“We have sealed the 14 as we speak. There are still 10, but the leak is minimal,” said Lt. Commander Michael John Encina of the PCG Bataan station in an interview on Monday.
Encina said MT Terra Nova has eight compartments with three valves each.
He said siphoning the industrial fuel oil to another oil tanker could begin on Tuesday if the weather permits.
Encina added that only 300,000 of the 1.4 million liters of industrial fuel oil need to be drained for the Terra Nova to float, after which it would be moved to a shallow area.
He said the siphoning operations would take five to seven days to complete.
Encina said the PCG is set to launch a campaign to alert local government units around the Manila Bay area to take immediate action in case the oil spill reaches their areas.
As of Monday, the coverage and the volume of the oil spill have decreased.
Based on an earlier aerial survey conducted by the Philippine Space Agency, a mixture of diesel and industrial oil covered an estimated area of 12 to 14 kilometers across.
Encina said currently the coverage of the oil spill is now only five to seven kilometers.
At the same time, oil is leaking at a rate of one liter a minute, down from seven liters per minute, he added.
Leonell Mojal-Infante, spokesman for Portavaga Ship Management Inc., the operator of the sunken tanker, announced that the insurer of Terra Nova will be starting to compensate those affected by the oil spill that is now threatening Manila Bay.
Pangisda-Pilipinas, an alliance of small-scale and subsistence fishermen, earlier called on the government to urgently assist thousands of fishermen whose livelihoods have been affected by the massive oil spill.
Portavaga Ship Management Inc. has also submitted a salvage and recovery plan to the Philippine Coast Guard for a more detailed process for oil extraction and cleanup operations in the affected communities.
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