Oil spill destroys Semirara seaweed farms

It was a sad Christmas for hundreds of fishermen of Semirara Island in Antique whose seaweed farms have been destroyed by a massive oil spill from a power barge of the National Power Corp. (Napocor).

According to the Coast Guard, the oil spill has reached some five kilometers of the Semirara shoreline, contaminating 56 hectares of mangroves and destroying seaweed farms. The locals mainly depend on fishing and seaweed farming for livelihood.

Coast Guard officials explained the extent of the oil spill’s damage during a Powerpoint presentation the other day.

Cmdr. Allen Toribio, deputy commander of the Coast Guard’s Marine Environmental Protection Command, said the oil spill is expected to affect the livelihood of Semirara folk for one to three months until the Coast Guard is able to completely remove the spilled bunker oil in daily clean-up operations.

The problem cropped up when the Napocor power barge (number 106), which carried some 890,000 liters of bunker oil, ran aground off Semirara Island last Dec. 19.

Toribio estimated that some 6,500 liters of bunker oil had leaked out of the barge, affecting the island’s coral beds, mangroves and seaweed farms.

Salvage teams of the Coast Guard and Napocor have laid out containment booms to prevent the oil from reaching a wider area.

The Coast Guard, with the help of residents, has collected some 400 sacks of oil-coated debris.

Toribio said the extent of damage to the marine environment and the locals’ livelihood cannot yet be determined, but is expected to reach tens of millions of pesos.

Under the law, Napocor is liable to pay for the cost of the clean-up and compensate the affected residents, he said.

Some 50 Coast Guard personnel and local residents are involved in the clean-up operations.

According to Toribio, the oil spill continues to threaten marine life in Semirara since the hole in the Napocor barge has not yet been plugged.