PCG: Oil siphoning ops completed by June 19

MANILA, Philippines — Siphoning of oil from the sunken motor tanker Princess Empress is expected to be completed by June 19, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said yesterday.

PCG spokesman Rear Admiral Armand Balilo said the dynamic support vessel Fire Opal is on schedule in removing the remaining oil from the motor tanker.

“Dapat by June 19 nasipsip na nila. Mukhang on target naman sila,” Balilo told a news forum.

He said he has yet to receive an update on the quantity of oil from the fuel tanks of the sunken vessel.

Princess Empress was carrying around 800,000 liters of fuel oil when it sank in the waters off Naujan, Oriental Mindoro on Feb. 28.

The PCG had earlier said between 120,000 to 240,000 liters of oil would be removed from the sunken vessel.

Balilo said only two oil tanks of the motor tanker remain intact.

“Walo ang tangke pero ang analysis nila, meron pa konti doon sa iba at yung iba wala na,” he said.

A team from the PCG is supervising salvage operations commissioned by the owner of Princess Empress.

Balilo said a PCG vessel is on standby in the vicinity of the sunken motor tanker.

Meanwhile, PCG commandant Admiral Artemio Abu commended the incident management team involved in oil spill response.

Abu said nearly 400 PCG personnel have engaged in cleanup operations in the sea and on land.

As of June 7, the PCG reported a cleanup completeness rate of 92.79 percent in the towns most affected by the oil spill. These are in Naujan, Pola and Calapan.

An estimated 43,783 liters of oil-water mixture and 171,900 kilos of oil-contaminated debris had been collected, the PCG said. — Mark Ernest Villeza