Siphon vessel arrives in Philippines, headed for Mindoro

MANILA, Philippines — The vessel that will siphon off the remaining oil from the sunken MT Princess Empress has arrived in the Philippines to complete the final phase of the oil slick cleanup around affected areas, possibly by next month.

Presidential Communications Secretary Cheloy Garafil said dynamic support vessel Fire Opal arrived at the Riviera Pier in Subic Bay Freeport Zone last Friday.

It is scheduled to depart tonight for Batangas and reach its destination tomorrow.

“Officials said the siphoning operations may last up to 30 days,” Garafil said.

Office of Civil Defense administrator Ariel Nepomuceno said the extraction of the remaining oil from the capsized MT Princess Empress would last for 20 to 30 days “if weather conditions are favorable.”

The process will involve transferring the collected oil waste to a tanker before it is disposed of.

Fire Opal was chartered by the Malayan Towage & Salvage Corp. and contracted by the Protection & Indemnity Insurance Club.

Oil spill from MT Princess Empress, which sank off Naujan town in Mindoro Oriental last Feb. 28, has affected about 26,000 fisherfolk. The tanker was carrying 800,000 liters of industrial fuel oil when it capsized.

The oil spill has reached the provinces of Antique, Palawan and Batangas.

Defense department officer-in-charge Undersecretary Carlito Galvez Jr. reported recently that 62.95 kilometers or 84.26 percent of the affected coastline have already been cleaned up as of May 10.

Various agencies and organizations collected a total of 6,801 liters of oil waste and 300,603.60 liters of oil-contaminated waste in the waters of the affected provinces.

Last March, remotely operated Japanese salvage vessel Shin Nichi Maru arrived at the port of Calapan in Oriental Mindoro to assist in the oil spill cleanup.