CEBU, Philippines - The owner of the sunken MV St. Thomas Aquinas, 2Go Shipping, will siphon the remaining oil in the vessel using an equipment the outsourced abroad.
This after they received a demand letter from Philippine Coast Guard
directing them to remove trapped oil from their sunken ship to prevent further environmental damage.
Hall Calvin Rosellosa of 2Go Shipping said they have already signed the contract with Malayan Towage and Salvage Corporation to facilitate the shipment of
the pump.
This was described by Mayor Michael Rama as the good news that he was
asking from the shipping company considering the rate of controlled leaks did not improve over the weekend.
The suction pump, as referred by Malayan engineer Noel Kimmayong, is a
“simple yet expensive†equipment not available in the country.
“The equipment is in a one foot container... It will be submerged underwater to suck out the bunker fuel at the sunken vessel,†Kimmayong told reporters.
The equipment is expected to arrived on Sept. 8 or 11 days after yesterday’s signing of contract.
Based on 2Go’s calendar, the removal of remaining bunker oil is
scheduled between Sept. 9 and 20.
Meanwhile ,Coast Guard Cebu Station Commander Weniel Azcuna reported
that divers have so far searched approximately 65 percent of the
sunken passenger ship while the remaining 45 percent is the left side,
which is facing the seabed.
“In order to reach the side facing the seabed, divers plan to smash
the glasses to penetrate the earlier unreachable area. Smashing has started today (Wednesday),†Azcuna said.
Five more bodies were retrieved yesterday making the total fatalities 86, with 48 missing victims and three unidentified. — (FREEMAN)