Over 1.3M liters of oil collected in resumption of siphoning ops

Manila: Oil siphoning from the sunken MTKR Terranova in Bataan province resumed over the weekend following a weeklong suspension due to inclement weather. In a situation report, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said 1,304,878 liters of oily waste have so far been siphoned off by its contracted salvor, Harbor Star. The salvor siphoned 52,355 liters of oily waste on Saturday and 8,809 liters on Sunday. PCG Station Bataan Commander, Lt. Comm. Michael John Encina, said the oily waste siphoned was mostly water. 'However, the siphoning operation will continue until [Tuesday] to ensure all the IFO (industrial fuel oil) cargo will be extracted from the sunken MTKR Terranova,' Encina said. Before it sank, MTKR Terranova was carrying 1.4 million liters of IFO. The PCG also conducted aerial surveillance over ground zero while BRP Sindangan monitored the surrounding waters. The FES Challenger, the contracted salvor for MTKR Jason Bradley, mobilized its pumps and siphoning pipes to begin seawater siphoning from the sunken vessel. MTKR Jason Bradley will be refloated on Saturday to be brought to the Diving Industry Shipyard in Barangay Alas-asin, Mariveles for further action. An oil spill response team has also patrolled the vicinity of MTKR Jason Bradley and found no oil sheen. Source: Philippines News agency