Oil removal from ship wreckage 90% complete

MANILA, Philippines - Ninety percent of the oil from the sunken passenger ship M/V St. Thomas Aquinas in Cebu has been siphoned, a Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) official said yesterday.

Commodore William Melad, PCG Central Visayas District commander, said, “If weather permits we might be able to finish siphoning the oil from the sunken ship this weekend. We had to call off the operations today (Friday) because of the rough sea condition.”

Divers from the Nippon Salvage and Malayan Towage, both hired by M/V St. Thomas Aquinas owner 2Go Travel, have been working on removing the oil from the vessel since last week.

Melad said it appeared that majority of the 120,000 liters of bunker oil, 20,000 liters of lube oil and 20,000 liters of diesel oil which the vessel had when it sank after colliding with cargo ship Sulpicio Express Siete have leaked, causing an oil spill in coastal communities in Cebu.

He said only 5,000 liters of oil might be recovered from the vessel.