Tanker carrying 800,000 liters of fuel sinks off Oriental Mindoro

MANILA, Philippines (Updated 3:19 p.m.) — A tanker carrying hundreds of thousands of liters of industrialized fuel oil sank in the wee hours of Tuesday off Romblon, according to the Philippine Coast Guard in the province and the manager of the Batangas port.

GMA News Online and Romblon News Network reported that a vessel carrying 800,000 liters of industrial fuel oil sank at around 2 a.m.

Batangas port manager Joselito Sinocruz told DZBB that all 20 people onboard MT Princess Empress that sank, including its captain, were rescued by a passing foreign vessel.

It is not yet clear whether there has been an oil spill, Sinocruz said, but the incident has been reported to the Philippine Coast Guard.

As of publishing, the Coast Guard Station in Romblon has only issued a clarification that the tanker was "half-submerged" at Tablas Strait in Balingawan Point at Naujan, Oriental Mindoro.

The Philippine Coast Guard, in a statement Monday noon, said it deployed BRP Melchora Aquino (MRRV-9702) and one airbus helicopter to respond to assist in the incident and assess the vicinity waters for possible oil spill traces.

The Coast Guard said MT Princess Empress came from Bataan and was en route to Iloilo.

“Initial investigation revealed that the distressed motor tanker encountered engine trouble due to overheating. It then drifted towards the vicinity waters off Balingawan Point due to rough sea conditions until it became half-submerged,” the PCG said, although it stressed that this is still up for validation. — Xave Gregorio