PCG balancing safety, urgency in draining Terranova

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) reiterated the need to be careful in draining over a million liters of industrial fuel from the submerged tanker Terranova.

“We are balancing the safety and the desire of the people to return to their normal lives,” said PCG Commandant Admiral Ronnie Gil Gavan in an interview over dwPM on Friday.

The painstaking approach in siphoning an estimated 1.4 million liters of industrial fuel from Terranova – which sank 34 meters deep and 3.6 nautical miles off Lamao Point in Limay town, Bataan – should not affect nearby highly industrialized areas and “sensitive” marine and coastal areas, he said.

According to an update from the PCG’s Bataan oil spill incident commander Michael John Encina, the salvage company in charge of siphoning operations for Terranova said “out of 24 valves, 12 have been secured and are leak-free – no metal cappings required.”

“For the remaining 12 valves, six have been capped as of Aug. 9. The installation of metal cappings on the final six valves are ongoing,” he added.

The “very thin” oil sheen from Terranova has been confined to the area where oil spill booms were deployed, which has been diluted by water later on, he said.

An estimated 300,000 out of the 1.4 million liters of industrial fuel would be siphoned while underwater to allow the capsized vessel to refloat, and an additional 50,000 to 60,000 liters a day would be drained as soon as it is towed to shore.

Meanwhile, Encina said the draining of seawater from another sunken tanker Jason Bradley started yesterday.

Gavan pointed out siphoning the 5,500 liters of diesel oil carried by Jason Bradley would start once the capsized tanker has been refloated.

The PCG is using absorbent pads, as well as “minimal and careful” use of oil dispersants, to collect leaking oil from Jason Bradley, he added.

With regard to MV Mirola 1 that ran aground in Mariveles, Gavan said the PCG has collected over a hundred liters of water mixed with oil, believed to have come from two drums of heavy oil that spilled inside the ship.

Encina added that divers started assessing its hull yesterday.

With no one from MV Mirola 1 reaching out, the PCG’s marine casualty investigation team has coordinated with the National Bureau of Investigation for efforts to probe allegations of oil smuggling in the grounded ship, he said.

Last year, the PCG held 18 sailors from MV Mirola 1 for illegally transferring fuel to three boats off the waters of Navotas, according to a report by The STAR on Jan. 31, 2023.