Coast Guard seeks foreign help in containing Guimaras oil spill

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said yesterday it would seek help from other countries in containing what it considers as the "worst oil spill" in the country’s history.

Coast Guard commandant Vice Adm. Arthur Gosingan said they were still determining the extent of damage as last Friday’s oil spill on Guimaras island continues to spread.

But Gosingan noted that the company which owned the sunken oil tanker is likely to spend at least P50 million in clearing affected coastal areas of the spill which, he said, might take it two to three years to complete.

The oil spill has continued to spread to coastal areas around Guimaras island where a tanker carrying two million liters of bunker fuel sank reportedly because of bad weather and rough seas.

The oil spill is considered to be the biggest so far in the country with up to 10,000 residents affected.

The Coast Guard confirmed through aerial surveillance that the oil spill has spread to some 19 nautical miles from the point where the tanker sank, reaching the shorelines of Negros Occidental and affecting at least 14 barangays around the Guimaras Strait as of 7:30 a.m. yesterday.

The PCG said the oil spill has also reached the Taklong Island National Marine Reserve located at the southern tip of Guimaras island. The reserve has 29 genera of hard corals, 144 species of fish, seven species of sea grasses and three species of mangroves.

Coast Guard officials said they expect the oil spill to also reach Panay Island and other parts of Negros Occidental, based on its projectory.

They have already advised the local government units in both islands to create improvised barriers to protect the identified areas.

In a news conference at the Coast Guard headquarters in Port Area, Manila, Gosingan said the oil spill is unlikely to reach Boracay island in Aklan, which he said is "quite remote" from Guimaras island.

"If we look at the trend of oil spill, it appears that it is confined to Guimaras island. And in case it manages to reach the Visayan Sea, the oil spill would be blocked by the current in the sea which is heading back toward Guimaras island," Gosingan explained.

He stressed that their priority was to first contain the oil spill and possibly recover the sunken tanker.

"We have to expect the worst scenario. The spill is causing a lot of damage to the environment. We were hoping the oil would spill out of the tanker slowly but to our surprise it is moving very fast," Gosingan said.

The Coast Guard chief admitted they would need special equipment to recover the M/T Solar-I that has settled at 1,800 to 3,000 feet below the sea. He also said they are considering the possibility of hiring a foreign company to recover it through a salvor, a ship used in salvaging vessels.

Gosingan said they met with Coast Guard officials of Indonesia and Japan yesterday afternoon and asked for possible assistance in the oil spill containment and recovery operations. He also said the PCG is seeking help from renowned oil spill response companies in the region such as Ospar and Suluwesi.

The official said that while they try to determine the reason the tanker sank, the owner of the sunken vessel Sunshine Maritime Development Corp. would be held liable for the damage caused by the oil spill.

The oil tanker sank last Friday on its way to Zamboanga City to bring some 500,000 gallons of industrial fuel, hours after it left Limay town in Bataan.

PCG search and rescue operatives said two of the vessel’s crewmen were found dead at sea while 18 others were rescued.

Initial investigation showed the vessel sank after it encountered big waves as it passed through the Guimaras Strait.

‘Helpless’

Local authorities also appealed for help from the national government as the oil spill is too wide for them to rely on their resources alone.

"We’re helpless. The resources of the region alone are not sufficient for this," said Chief Superintendent Geary Barias, police regional director and concurrent head of the Regional Disaster Coordinating Council.

Guimaras Gov. JC Rahman Nava said, "we have already manifested our need for help from all the government agencies."

Nava said he has already talked to President Arroyo, Defense Secretary Avelino Cruz and Environment Secretary Angelo Reyes regarding the problem.

He also said that they are deliberating on the possibility of seeking help from international agencies, particularly in rehabilitating affected areas.

"The President is supportive of our efforts. She said that while we are addressing the disaster ourselves, they in the national government will also be doing what they can," Nava told reporters yesterday.

Reyes is due to arrive in the province soon to personally assess the disaster.

According to Barias, containment teams began operations yesterday.

At present, there are four containment teams battling the oil spill.

The first group is blocking the oil spill from further going south towards Negros Occidental.

The second team is working to prevent the oil slick from being carried up north towards Panay, particularly Iloilo.

The third team is in charge of suctioning the oil from the sunken vessel, now lying under 600 meters of sea water.

The fourth team is deployed along the coastline for the clean-up operations. Drums of oil dispersant have already arrived at the PCG Iloilo station, the staging area for the containment and clean-up operations. — With Ronilo Pamonag