Divers locate sunken toxic cargo; no damage or leak found

MANILA, Philippines – Salvage divers have pinpointed the location of the toxic chemical endosulfan in a container van inside the ill-fated MV Princess of the Stars that sank off Sibuyan Island in Romblon during a typhoon last June.

Philippine Coast Guard spokesman Capt. Eric Evangelista said divers were able to drill a six-foot wide hole in the side of the sunken ferry where the 40-foot container van containing the toxic cargo is located.

“The divers had identified the container van, (and) there was no sign of any damage or leak,” Evangelista told the weekly Kapihan sa Sulo Hotel news forum.

Evangelista said divers from the salvage ship Titan Salvage have prioritized the retrieval of the toxic cargo and bunker oil from the sunken ship to allow the recovery of the bodies of passengers still trapped inside.

“The priority (of the Titan Salvage) was the (retrieval of the) toxic cargo, there was no mention of any human remains in the ship,” he said.

He said the toxic cargo retrieval operation might start anytime.

The salvage operation, which began last Sept. 24, is being closely monitored and supervised by the Task Force Princess of the Stars headed by Transportation Undersecretary Elena Bautista.

Evangelista said regular collection of water and fish sample is being carried out to monitor any leakage of toxic cargo and bunker oil from the sunken ship.

“There are no traces of endosulfan or oil spill in the area,” he said.

Evangelista said that in the initial survey there was no sign of any bodies still trapped inside the ship.

Evangelista also revealed that the Coast Guard is seeking reimbursement from Sulpicio Lines, owners of the sunken vessel, of the expenses incurred in the search and rescue operation and the ongoing salvage operations.

According to Evangelista, the Coast guard has spent at least P20 million to fuel the ships in the search and retrieval operations.

The amount does not include other expenses incurred by the rescue and retrieval team, he said.

Sulpicio Lines is shouldering the expenses of the salvage operation that cost up to several hundred million pesos.

“We have not yet received any response from Sulpicio Lines regarding the reimbursement of our expenses, “ he said, warning the Coast Guard would initiate a civil suit against Sulpicio if the shipping firm continues to ignore their demand.

Sulpicio Lines, on the other hand, presented before Bautista on Friday its plan to retrieve the bodies still trapped in the sunken ship upon completion of the removal of endosulfan and bunker fuel from the site.

Bautista said several government agencies led by the Department of Health and the National Bureau of Investigation are ready to conduct efforts to identify the remains that will be recovered.

Bautista added Titan Salvage had asked for a month more before starting the retrieval of endosulfan cargo and bunker fuel.

She said the salvage firm needed time to prepare their equipment.

With the delay, Bautista projected that Titan can start operations to recover the chemicals and hydrocarbon by the third week of October.

“Once they recover the endosulfan and the hydrocarbon, they will need three days before they can start the operations to recover the human remains,” Bautista said.

Bautista gave assurances the waters off Sibuyan Island where Princess of Stars sank remained free of chemical contamination, citing the studies of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ Environmental Management Bureau. –With Rainier Allan Ronda