It may take time to address issue of sunken tanker

A key official of the Petron Corp. yesterday doused cold water on those advocating for a speedy solution on what to do with the sunken MT Solar I amid the demands of provincial officials of Negros Occidental that it be salvaged as soon as possible.

Jose Campos and R. del Rosario pointed out to local mediamen in a press conference at the L’Fisher Hotel that the recommendations of the Fakada Salvage Company still has to be submitted to Petron and the Coast Guard.

This, in turn, will have to be processed by the insurance firm and must get the nod of the Philippine government. In short, even a timeframe of three months may be too early, pointed out the Petron officials.

Solar I, it was pointed out, was insured with a foreign firm for about $30 million.

More important is that the cargo was insured by P and I Insurance of Luxembourg for $300 million, they added.

Shensie Maru’s robotic survey equipment reportedly found the sunken tanker still intact and listing to the right in the sea bottom of Guimaras Strait, 640 meters below.

One compartment was found emptied of its content. The nine others are still full, and the seepage from one of the compartments was partially closed by tightening the valves of the ship.

Actually, three primary solutions to the Solar I problem are often discussed. They include siphoning off the bunker fuel through underwater hoses, re-floating of the tanker, and cementing it to the sea bottom with special quick-drying cement.

Petron officials, however, did not rule out the possibility that the salvage company may have other options.

Jerry Ledesma, an ecologist and head of the Negros Forest Foundation, pointed out that the danger of reposing decisions only on the expert opinion of one firm.

Why not a second, third, or even fourth opinion, Ledesma pointed out.

Del Rosario, however, said the Japanese salvage firm has the needed experience and expertise to undertake the study on what do with the sunken vessel.

Negros Occidental Gov. Joseph Marañon stressed to Petron officials that the Provincial Peace and Order Council and the Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council have passed a resolution demanding the removal of MT Solar I and its bunker fuel cargo from the Guimaras Strait.

Marañon stressed that unless the remaining bunker fuel is removed, the cargo still on board will continue to be a sword of Damocles hanging over Western Visayas.

Guimaras Gov. JC Rahman Nava earlier also pressed the same demand on Petron.

Petron officials, however, allayed apprehensions about the possible rupture of the remaining compartments, pointing out that the 1,000-per-square-inch pressure on the steel hulk is also compensated by the fact that the compartments are also reinforced by the counter-pressure of the bunker fuel and water.

This was their answer to a demonstration by a Coast Guard officer who presented on Tuesday a water-filled cup which was destroyed after subjected to pressure for a time.

Bacolod Coast Guard commander Edgar Ybanez said the tightening of the valves of the MT Solar I lessened the leak. This, added the Petron officials, has been estimated to be only five liters per hour or less.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was expected yesterday to visit Guimaras one more time. This is to check on the progress of the recommendations to be adopted by the National Disaster Coordinating Council, headed by Defense Secretary Avelino Cruz, during last week’s conference on Inampulugan Island.

Going back to the recommendations of the Shinsei Maru officers, Petron officials said these may be submitted this week. But they pointed out that it will take Petron as well as the insurance firm time to study them. And it does not preclude studying other options on top of the three previously mentioned to address the problem of what to do with the sunken tanker.

It will take the insurance firm sometime to further study the recommendations. So with Petron. Later, the decisions reached will still have to get the clearance of the Philippine government.

In short, a three-month limit may not even be enough for any action to be taken.

Del Rosario said the Philippine Coast Guard has reportedly found a Norwegian firm equipped to carry out the suctioning of the bunker fuel. But he pointed out that it would take the boat some 28 shipping days to travel from Norway to the Philippines.

Meanwhile, Petron said even local government units can avail themselves of the processing of claims for compensation for their preemptive expenses to ward off the oil spill from touching the shorelines of Negros Occidental towns and cities.

Petron said the adjusters have arrived in Iloilo City and have started educating the Guimaras public on how to go about applying for damage claims, including income losses.

"The adjusters have made sure that the process has been simplified and made easy," Del Rosario said.

Thus, even Gov. Marañon said he found the explanations by the Petron officials satisfactory.

But he emphasized the concern of Negrense officials about the speedy removal of the remaining bunker fuel from Solar I. "For us to sleep soundly, the cargo tanker must be retrieved, if not, they should remove the remaining bunker fuel," Maranon stressed.

Petron officials, meanwhile, admitted that the oil firm has suffered from a bad press, although they also confessed that they are not blaming the media since they focused initially on addressing the more immediate remedial measures and failed to communicate to the public about what they were doing.

But they washed their hands off the government’s restricting officers on the ground from releasing statements or information to the press.

President Assistant for Western Visayas Raphael Coscolluela stressed that it was not a "gag order" but pointed out that official statements have to be coursed through him, Secretary Avelino Cruz and Coast Guard’s Vice Admiral Arthur Cosigan.

Coscolluela said there was no written order, but this was just the result of discussions among members of the NDCC.

Mediamen pointed out the need for periodic updates on what is going on and what is being done to address the oil spill. Cosigan, for example, is in Manila and it would be difficult for local newsmen to gain access to him.

Mediamen stressed that the new setup will affect steady and fast flow of information from official sources to the public.

Coscolluela, however, said they are not stopping journalists from interviewing officials and other sources of information.

He said he is only concerned that some reports tend to paint a worse picture than what is prevailing. Others, he said, tend to interpret statements differently from what they should be.

Petron officials, on the other hand, gave assurances that they will not leave Guimaras until after the island-province shall have been rehabilitated "even if it take months or years."