THE Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) will conduct a final inspection to see if the contracted salvor of the MT Terranova has recovered all the industrial fuel from the sunken tanker.
Once cleared, Harbor Star Shipping Services Inc. will proceed with the salvaging of the ship, the PCG said on Thursday.
Harbor Star gave assurances all of the Terranova’s oil cargo will be siphoned off before it begins salvage operations.
On Wednesday, officials from the Department of Transportation (DoTr) inspected the area where the tanker sank in Limay, Bataan.
Undersecretary Elmer Sarmiento and Assistant Secretary Julius Yano, who were on the BRP Boracay, also visited Barge Auriga to check the siphoning operations.
Harbor Star reported collecting a mixture of seawater and a very small amount of oil from the Terranova.
The PCG wants the siphoning process completed by September 13.
As of September 10, 1,384,211 liters of oil have been recovered from the Terranova, which was carrying 1.4 million liters of industrial fuel when it sank 3.6 nautical miles east of Lamao Point in Limay on July 25.
One crew member died, and 16 others were rescued.
The oil that leaked out of the tanker forced the suspension of fishing activities in Manila Bay, disrupting the livelihood of hundreds of fishermen.
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