(UPDATES) AT least nine valves of the fuel tanks on board the oil tanker that sank off Limay, Bataan, have been leaking industrial fuel oil, leaving a trail of 12 to 14 kilometers and threatening Manila Bay with an "environmental catastrophe."

On Sunday, divers of Harbor Star Shipping Services worked on sealing the valves in an effort to contain the oil that was seeping out of the tanks on board the MT Terra Nova.

The tanker was carrying 1.4 million liters and was headed to Iloilo when it sank off Lamao Point in Limay, Bataan, on July 25, killing one crew member and leaving the country facing the possibility of its worst oil spill ever.

In a media briefing, Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Rear Adm. Armando Balilo said that after it was determined what valves were spilling oil, divers immediately worked on sealing the leaks.

Balilo said Harbor Star divers were able to complete the application of the second layer of the sealants at 10:42 a.m.

He said they were currently monitoring the status of the nine valves and the effectiveness of their operations.

After Harbor Star Shipping carried out its sealing operations on the nine leaking valves, Balilo announced that the siphoning of the 1.4 million liters of fuel from the sunken motor tanker would be pushed back to Tuesday.

Based on an aerial survey conducted by the Philippine Space Agency, a mixture of diesel and industrial oil now covers an estimated area of 12 to 14 kilometers long.

Balilo warned that if the entire cargo of the MT Terra Nova leaks out, it would be an "environmental catastrophe."

He also admitted that removing the oil cargo would be a race against time as the inclement weather and huge waves threatened to disrupt the efforts to salvage the tanker.

The PCG has recommended the suspension of fishing along Manila Bay to ensure people will not consume "contaminated fish."

The tanker sank in bad weather off Manila early Thursday,

"An order was given to seal the valves first before the start of the siphoning operations in order to prevent further leakages," Balilo said Sunday. "The weather remains bad out there, but they have a target to finish this (sealing the valves) by tomorrow."

Balilo said leaking oil had now reached a patch of shoreline in Hagonoy municipality, around 40 kilometers northwest of Manila.

Coast Guard cleanup teams were dispatched to the area Sunday to spray oil dispersant, he said.

Balilo had no estimates of how much beach was affected or what kind of damage the oil had done.

Based on the directive of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista, PCG Commandant Adm. Ronnie Gil Gavan directed all Coast Guard units, the ship owner, Shogun Ships Co. Inc. and Harbor Star Shipping to undertake all actions necessary to immediately close all leaks to avoid further adverse impact on the people and the environment.

Oil containment booms had been deployed for what Balilo earlier described as "the worst-case scenario" of the cargo leaking out. Three PCG ships were also spreading dispersant on the oil slick.

Portavaga Shipping, which operates the Terra Nova, said a tugboat loaded with additional oil spill equipment was deployed to install oil spill booms. It had also assigned divers to do an underwater survey.

The sunken tanker is completely intact underwater and rests on the sea floor 34 meters (116 feet) below the surface.

Balilo said the underwater current site was not that strong for the tanker to break up and release its cargo.

The vessel sank nearly 7 kilometers from its port of origin in Limay, Bataan, west of Manila. It was attempting to return to port after running into bad weather.

To prevent further marine damage, the PCG is also considering seeking the assistance of allied coast guards from the United States and Japan.

Coast guards from the US and Japan also assisted in containing and cleaning the oil spill from a tanker that sank 14 kilometers northeast of Balisangan Point, Pola, Oriental Mindoro, in February 2023.

That tanker was carrying 800,000 liters of industrial fuel when it sank.

The Mindoro oil spill reached as far as Palawan and Batangas provinces.

Meanwhile, an alliance of small-scale and subsistence fishermen called on the government to urgently assist thousands of fishermen whose livelihoods have been affected by the massive oil spill in Manila Bay.

According to Pangisda-Pilipinas, fishermen were prohibited from fishing in the areas where the oil spill had and could reach.

"The livelihoods of our fellow fishermen have collapsed due to the recent typhoons and monsoons; now they can't fish because it has been prohibited due to the oil spill caused by MT Terra Nova," Pablo Rosales, Pangisda-Pilipinas national president, told The Manila Times.

Pangisda-Pilipinas urged the Marcos administration to "punish the vessel owner and compensate the fishermen whose livelihoods were directly affected by the oil spill."

They also called on the government to order the vessel owner to pay for the damage that the oil spill has caused to the Manila Bay ecosystem and the destruction of nature.

"Let's protect our nature, fisheries and people against such carelessness and negligence," Rosales said.

The Philippines has struggled to contain serious oil spills in the past.

It took months to clean up after a tanker carrying 800,000 liters of industrial fuel oil sank off the central island of Mindoro last year, contaminating its waters and beaches and devastating the fishing and tourism industries.

Another tanker sank off the central island of Guimaras in 2006, spilling tens of thousands of gallons of oil that destroyed a marine reserve, ruined local fishing grounds and covered stretches of coastline in black sludge.

Meanwhile, another Coast Guard team was dispatched to the mouth of Manila Bay on Saturday to join the search for an unspecified number of crew members who were aboard a second tanker that sank nearby, Balilo said Sunday.

The wreck of the MTKR Jason Bradley has been located, and salvage will follow, a Coast Guard statement said, adding it had no cargo on board.

The sinkings occurred as heavy rains fueled by Typhoon Carina (Gaemi) and the seasonal monsoon lashed Manila and surrounding regions.

WITH AFP

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