MANILA. An oil tanker sank in Manila Bay early Thursday after being hit by massive waves, leading to the death of one crew member and the rescue of 16 others by the coast guard. The incident triggered concerns about a major oil spill that could impact the capital city and its surroundings.
The vessel, named Terra Nova, was en route from Bataan province to Iloilo with approximately 1.4 million liters (370,000 gallons) of industrial fuel oil when it encountered severe weather conditions exacerbated by monsoon rains and a passing typhoon. The tanker began taking on water and eventually sank shortly after midnight, according to Rear Admiral Armando Balilo of the Philippine Coast Guard, who cited statements from surviving crew members.
The incident comes amid widespread flooding and landslides caused by recent heavy rains, which have resulted in at least 22 fatalities and displaced more than half a million people across the archipelago.
An initial aerial survey detected an oil slick approximately 3.7 kilometers (2.3 miles) long near the sinking site. However, this slick may have originated from the tanker’s engine fuel rather than the cargo. Balilo explained, “There’s a big danger that Manila would be affected, its shorelines if the fuel leaks because this happened within Manila Bay. It’s part of the contingency we’re preparing for.”
The coast guard ship BRP Melchora Aquino was dispatched to the site, located more than 6 kilometers (about 4 miles) from Bataan’s coast, to search for the last missing crew member and assess the situation. The body of the missing crew member was later recovered, and initial assessments of the tanker’s fuel oil cargo are underway.
Balilo indicated that the tanker sank in relatively shallow waters at a depth of 34 meters (111 feet), which might facilitate the extraction of the remaining fuel oil by specialized vessels. He stated, “Siphoning will not be very technical and can be done quickly to protect the vicinity waters of Bataan and Manila Bay against environmental, social, economic, financial, and political impacts.”
The Coast Guard is preparing for potential environmental impacts, drawing comparisons to a previous oil spill caused by another Philippine tanker off Oriental Mindoro in February of last year. That spill, involving a smaller quantity of fuel, took three months to contain and caused extensive damage to local coral reefs and mangroves.
Si Venus L Peñaflor ay naging editor-in-chief ng Newsworld, isang lokal na pahayagan ng Laguna. Publisher din siya ng Daystar Gazette at Tutubi News Magazine. Siya ay isa ring pintor at doll face designer ng Ninay Dolls, ang unang Manikang Pilipino. Kasali siya sa DesignCrowd sa rank na #305 sa 640,000 graphic designers sa buong daigdig. Kasama din siya sa unang Local TV Broadcast sa Laguna na Beyond Manila. Aktibong kasapi siya ng San Pablo Jaycees Senate bilang isang JCI Senator.
