MANILA – A motor tanker carrying industrial fuel “capsized and eventually submerged” in the waters off Bataan province on Thursday morning, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said.
According to PCG spokesperson Rear Admiral Armand Balilo, Motor Tanker (MT) Terra Nova capsized and eventually sank nearly 3.6 nautical miles east off Lamao Point in Limay town around 1:10 a.m.
The motor tanker, which is bound for Iloilo, carried 1.4 million fuel but only the “working fuel” of the ship or the fuel being used by the vessel to run leaked, the PCG official added.
“The deployed aerial asset monitors an oil spill 5.6 nautical miles east off Lamao Point with an estimated coverage (length) of two nautical miles carried by strong current heading east to northeast,” Balilo said.
“Marine environmental protection personnel have also been mobilized to combat the oil spill,” he added. “We are racing against time, and we are doing our best to contain (the oil spill).”
Balilo also said that 16 crew were rescued with four of them receiving further medical attention, while another one was missing and currently a subject of search and rescue operation.
The incident happened as heavy rains fueled by Typhoon Carina and the southwest monsoon lashed Manila and surrounding regions in recent days.
Balilo said the PCG is investigating “if there was an existing weather disturbance in the vicinity waters when the maritime incident occurred.”/PN
