Philippines minimises environmental oil spill after two shipwrecks

Philippine police on July 29 reported that the country's rescue teams have been working to minimise the oil leak from the MT Terra Nova, an oil tanker that sank off the coast of Manila Bay last week.

The capsized MT Terra Nova oil tanker off Manila Bay on July 25 (Photo: MSN/VNA)

Since July 27, divers have begun sealing the leaking valves on the MT Terra Nova, reducing the oil leakage from 7.5 liters per minute to one liter per hour.

Lieutenant Colonel Michael John Encina of the Bataan Maritime Police Station emphasised that the current oil leak is "minimal" and "very manageable".

Aerial inspections show that the size of the oil slick has significantly decreased, now ranging between 3.2 to 6.4 kilometers. It is expected that the removal of 1.4 million liters of industrial fuel oil from the MT Terra Nova, which is located 34m underwater, will start on July 30 and will take about 10 days to complete.

On the same day, the Philippine Coast Guard confirmed that divers had also sealed the leaking valves on another oil tanker, the MTKR Jason Bradley, which sank off the coast of Mariveles in Bataan province, west of Manila, on July 27.

The shipwrecks occurred amid heavy rains influenced by Typhoon Gaemi combined with the monsoon hitting Manila and surrounding areas. The Philippines has faced several oil spill incidents.

In 2023, Philippine authorities spent months addressing a spill from a tanker carrying 800,000 liters of industrial fuel that sank off the coast of Mindoro Island, leading to pollution on local beaches and severe impacts on the fishing and tourism industries in the region./.

VNA