‘Sunken barge carrying oil debris not chartered by Petron’

ILOILO CITY — Nobody’s claiming responsibility for the sinking of the barge Ras, which was carrying oil debris when it sunk Monday night.

"I’m very definite about it, that Petron did not charter the barge," Malou Erni of Petron Foundation said during a press conference yesterday, shortly after reading a press release from Harbor Star Shipping Services Inc.

Erni made her statements in reaction to Malacañang’s order for an investigation into the sinking of the Ras.

The Ras was transporting oil debris left by the oil spill in Guimaras island last August, after the oil tanker M/T Solar I sank off the Guimaras coast.

Harbor Star, owner of the Ras as well as the tugboat Vega that had been towing the Ras when the barge sank, said they were collectively contracted by the Protection and Indemnity Club (P&I Club) — one of the insurers of M/T Solar I, the International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation Ltd., and the International Oil Pollution Compensation Fund.

The Ras was loaded with 59,649 sacks of oil-coated debris when it sank in the vicinity of Plaridel town, Misamis Oriental Monday night due to rough seas and high winds. The oil-contaminated debris, weighing approximately 600 metric tons, is composed of twigs, driftwood, rocks and sand.

Likewise, Joe Nichols and Britt Pickering of IOPC and the P&I Club, respectively, have vehemently denied chartering the sunken barge.

"I can assure you that the Fund did not charter anybody. We are not allowed to charter anybody," Nichols said.

Pickering, though said they will have to look into which party chartered the barge. She also denied that they hired Harbor Star.

"I’m not sure why there is such an interest over who contracted (Harbor Star)," Pickering said, apparently baffled about why reporters wanted to know who hired Harbor Star.

Erni said that, regardless of who chartered the barge, Petron has already deployed personnel and equipment to avert another environmental disaster.

She said the debris the barge was carrying was composed mostly of oil-coated sand and rocks.

While she said there were minute traces of oil, the debris has been exposed to the weather for three months already, hence is no longer toxic.

"(The cargo) does not pose any danger to the community or to the coastal areas," she added, echoing an earlier statement issued by Petron.

Offload to begin early next year

Meanwhile, operations to offload the remaining bunker oil from the sunken M/T Solar I are expected to begin early next year.

The P&I Club has signed a contract with Sonsub, a foreign subsea construction service contractor, to offload the oil from the sunken tanker, which still lies on the seabed of the Guimaras Strait.

Joel Weston, Sonsub regional manager for the Asia-Pacific region, said in a press conference that they initially decided to offload the oil in the months of February and March 2007 because of the favorable weather conditions during those months.

The actual offloading will take about 20 days because they expect the oil from M/T Solar I to flow faster, Weston said.

At the start of the press conference, Weston showed a 10-minute video of the company’s offloading operations on the Prestige, an international oil tanker which sank in the Bay of Biscayne.

The Prestige, Weston said, was much bigger and was under worse conditions than the M/T Solar I. He said they were able to remove 13,500 tons of oil from the Prestige at a depth of 3,850 meters without any spillage.

Joe Nichols of the IOPC said Sonsub has a good track record for offloading operations, adding that Sonsub is the only group capable of performing such operations in a deep sea environment.

"They were able to remove oil in far worse conditions," he said of Sonsub. "(The M/T Solar I) is a relatively easy operation though we can’t totally eliminate the risks."

According to Nichols, the P&I Club paid about $6-8 million for the offloading operations.

In Iligan City, a prospective investor in the local tourism industry who had intended to put up a beach resort in Plaridel town has reportedly backed out after the Ras sinking four days ago some 3.16 nautical miles off the town’s coast.

Plaridel town Mayor Edelmar Bulatin said the investor, who planned to set up a beach resort there, had backed out for fear of lasting pollution that may be caused by the sinking of the Ras.

The coastline facing Panguil Bay in Misamis Occidental is known for its scenic beaches.

Local officials from neighboring Oroquieta town said they recovered an oil absorbent boom, possibly from the sunken Ras, and said they fear that an estimated 4,000 fishermen along the province’s coast will be affected by the release of oil-soaked debris in their coastal waters.

Bulatin said that while the oil coming from the Guimaras oil spill is already weathered and had been absorbed by the sand, rocks and absorbents packed in jute sacks loaded on the sunken barge, he is afraid the jute sacks will eventually be destroyed and the sea water will be contaminated.

Government authorities and environmental groups are now in the area to gather seawater samples that will be brought to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Environmental Management Board (EMB) in Region X.

On the other hand, environment groups and the local government of Plaridel are now planning to file a criminal case against Petron and Harbor Star.

Meanwhile, in Lugait, Misamis Oriental, Holcim Philippines, which is using the oil debris from the Guimaras oil spill as fuel for its cement plant, assured the public that the process employed in utilizing the oil derived from the debris for the cement plant’s fuel will not harm the environment.

Plant manager Bobby Sajonia said the driftwood, rocks and sand used to absorb the oil are separated and not burned and that the burning and emission from this process are controlled.

"The emission is still below the allowable standard," Sajonia said. — Ronilo Pamonag, Lino dela Cruz and Katherine Adraneda