Over 160,000 liters of oil siphoned from MT Terranova

MANILA, Philippines – A total of 161,612 liters of oil had been siphoned from the sunken MT Terranova in Bataan from Monday, August 19, to Thursday, August 22, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said on Friday, August 23.

The siphoning operations are being conducted by Harbor Star Shipping Services, the company contracted by MT Terranova owner Shogun Ships to siphon the oil and salvage the ship.

According to the PCG, Harbor Star said the rate of oil flow as of Thursday was around 7,200 liters per hour, which would be equivalent to 172,800 liters per day. The PCG targets to extract 200,000 liters per day.

In the past week, the salvor had started to remove oil initially to determine the rate of oil flow. The plan is to remove all contaminants and float the tanker, before towing it to the shoreline.

Meanwhile, a water cannon was deployed on Thursday in response to the oil sheen observed in the area.

MT Terranova sank off Limay, Bataan, on July 25. It was carrying 1.4 million liters of industrial fuel oil, chartered by San Miguel Shipping subsidiary SL Harbor Bulk Terminal Corporation.

Thousands of fisherfolk in Bataan and Cavite are expecting to get compensation after the maritime incident affected their livelihood.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources has said that critical ecosystems in Manila Bay are under monitoring for possible impact. – Rappler.com