Industrial fuel tanker capsizes, causing oil spill
A ship carrying nearly 1.5 million liters of industrial fuel capsized and sank off the Philippine capital on Thursday, causing an oil spill, officials said.
Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista said sixteen crew members of the Philippine-flagged MT Terra Nova have been rescued but one remains missing.
Mr Bautista said the oil spill had been detected but strong winds and high waves were hampering authorities’ response efforts.
The incident occurred a day after Typhoon Gaemi. seasonal monsoon rains intensifysubmerged large swaths of Metro Manila and its suburbs in severe flooding.
Gaemi has landed in Taiwankilling three people and injuring hundreds of others.
Authorities said the MT Terra Nova was heading to Iloilo City in the central Philippines when it sank, leaving an oil slick stretching for miles.
The coast guard said in a report that “the vessel capsized and eventually sank,” adding that it was investigating whether bad weather was a factor.
Philippine coast guard spokesman Rear Admiral Armando Balilo told a news conference that the agency was “racing against time” to contain the oil spill.
He added that if all the oil in the tanker leaked, it would be the biggest oil spill in Philippine history.
“There is a big risk that Manila will be affected, even the Manila coast, if the fuel leaks, because it is in Manila Bay,” he said.
Manila Bay, where the tanker capsized, has a busy shipping lane and its coastline is lined with shopping malls, casino resorts and fishing communities.
In March 2023, an oil tanker carrying 800,000 liters of industrial fuel sank off the coast of Oriental Mindoro province.
Oil spilled onto the shores of several nearby fishing villages, coating the beaches with a layer of black sludge.
People in coastal villages reported cramps, vomiting and dizziness, and cleaners deployed to the affected village of Pola also reported feeling unwell.
Nearly two decades ago, an oil tanker carrying about two million liters of oil sunk in rough seas off the island province of GuimarasHowever, only one of its 10 compartments leaked oil.
