Oil siphoning from Terra Nova suspended for second day

MANILA, Philippines — Strong underwater current and bad weather conditions prevented salvors from continuing the siphoning of industrial oil from the sunken motor tanker Terra Nova yesterday.

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said it decided to halt the siphoning operations for the second day in a row, to prevent possible leakage from the tanker.

The siphoning was first suspended on Monday due to Tropical Storm Enteng.

In the meantime, salvor Harbor Star will focus on a plan to transfer the collected oily materials to a waste treatment facility in Marilao, Bulacan.

PCG Bataan station chief Lt. Cdr. Michael John Encina said the siphoning could be completed within a day or two once the weather improves.

As of Sunday, the total volume of oily waste collected from the Terra Nova has reached 1.25 million liters.

Encina, who is also spokesman for the PCG, earlier said they were anticipating to collect more than 1.4 million liters of oily waste from the sunken vessel as seawater will be pumped into the fuel storage during the siphoning process.

He clarified that only a minimal volume of seawater goes with industrial oil during the extraction process.

Encina said that since oil is lighter than water, salvors collected more oil than seawater during the siphoning operations.

The Terra Nova was carrying 1.4 million liters of industrial oil when it capsized in the waters off Limay in Bataan at the height of Typhoon Carina on July 25.