US Navy sends remote sub, boats and booms to assist in oil spill response
MANILA, Philippines — The United States Navy will send a remotely operated vehicle to augment efforts to contain the oil spill and recover the tanker MT Princess Empress, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) on Wednesday.
The operations of the US Navy’s Hydros ROV will commence on April 3.
According to PCG, the US Navy will provide a crane and launching system to deploy the working-class ROV.
The US Navy Supervisor of Salvage and Diving will also supply booming equipment such as harbor boom, one shop van for maintenance or repairs, decontamination van for oiled equipment or boom, shoreline skimmers, seven-meter Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat, small Zodiac boats, and an all-terrain forklift.
The US government will also bring personal protective equipment to protect the crew and sorbent materials to support shoreline response.
Admiral Artemio Abu, commandant of the PGC, welcomed the resources and technical experts sent by Washington.
The United States earlier helped transport 20,000 food packs to families affected by the oil spill and provided P10 million to support oil spill monitoring and response.
MT Princess Empress was carrying 800,000 liters of industrial oil when it sank off Oriental Mindoro on February 28. The vessel is still leaking oil into the sea, threatening the area’s rich marine biodiversity and disrupting the livelihoods of locals.
A Japanese ROV spotted the sunken tanker last week. — Gaea Katreena Cabico
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