Oil sheen spotted at sunken tanker ‘ground zero’

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) is monitoring an oil sheen in the waters off Limay town in Bataan where the motor tanker Terra Nova sank last month.

The PCG said its BRP Sindangan spotted the sheen when it conducted an oil sampling and sea surface surveillance at “ground zero,” the site where the 65-meter Terra Nova sank along with its cargo of 1.4 million liters of industrial fuel on July 25.

The contracted salvor Harbor Star is continuously conducting hot tapping operations and siphoning tests on the tanker.

The PCG said the salvor installed a boring machine and started hot tapping for the final cargo oil tank. It reportedly utilized an extra oil booster pump to enhance the siphoning pump’s efficiency.

The Harbor Star has so far collected 10,707 liters of industrial oil since the siphoning started. On Monday, the salvor collected approximately 2,500 liters of oil.

The Terra Nova, owned by the Shogun Ships Co. Inc., will be refloated once all the oil it is carrying is completely siphoned out.

The vessel sank during the onslaught of Typhoon Carina and the southwest monsoon.

The PCG allowed the tanker to depart Bataan as no tropical cyclone warning signal was hoisted at the time.