THE siphoning operation of oil from the sunken MT Terranova has been suspended to prioritize the unloading of the recovered oily waste at Orion Dockyard in Orion, Bataan, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said on Saturday.

So far, the contracted salvor, Harbor Star Shipping Services Inc., has extracted over 900,000 liters of oily waste from the motor tanker.

Based on the report from Harbor Star, the rate of oily waste flow during the August 29 operation was 12,437 liters per hour.

The PCG said it facilitated and monitored the transfer of the siphoned oily waste from the Motor Tanker (MT) Helen Marie on Saturday.

This mixture was initially received from the Terranova and is now being prepared for transfer to the RMS Lori Tanker at the Orion Dockyard in Orion, Bataan.

The PCG said MT Helen Marie crew and RMS personnel started preparing of stripping line hose to start the transfer of siphoned oil and water mixture while the PCG Marine Environmental Protection team laid the oil spill boom around the said motor tanker.

"Once the transfer is complete, the oil and water mixture will be sent to a treatment facility for proper disposal," it reported.

The PCG also reported that BRP Sindangan (MRRV-4407) conducted aerial surveillance at ground zero, while their personnel monitored the shoreline nearby for possible traces of oil sheen. But both operations yielded negative results.

MT Terranova was carrying 1.4 million liters of industrial fuel oil before it sank last July 25 off Lamao Point in Limay, Bataan, due to bad weather.

Meanwhile, the contracted salvor for MTKR Jason Bradley, FES Challenger, continued resealing and patching operations of the vessel's manhole and air vents.

The PCG said the Oil Spill Response Team patrolled the coastline and observed no oil sheen during the survey.

MTKR Jason Bradley was reportedly anchored in Bataan when Typhoon Carina hit on July 24. This caused the tanker to sink on July 26.

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