Filipino tanker spill: Race against typhoon to contain disaster
Authorities reported that a Filipino tanker carrying 370,000 gallons of heating oil sank on Thursday off the coast of Manila. The incident occurred about 4.1 miles east of Lamao Point in Limay. The Coast Guard stated a growing spill, and a typhoon hampers efforts.
12:17 PM EDT, July 25, 2024
The incident occurred around 1:10 AM local time on Thursday (7:10 PM on Wednesday Eastern Time), about 4.1 miles east of Lamao Point in Limay. No adverse weather conditions were observed at that time.
The fight against time continues
"We are racing against time and we will try to do our best to contain it immediately and stop the fuel from leaking," said Philippine Coast Guard spokesman Rear Admiral Armando Balilo at a briefing. He added that if the entire cargo from the MT Terra Nova tanker spills into the sea, it will be the largest spill in Philippine history.
On Thursday morning, the coast guard reported that the oil slick stretches for two nautical miles, or about 2.5 miles, and is being carried by a "strong current" towards the east and northeast. However, the slick is continuously growing. "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," Balilo said.
Philippine Transport Minister Jaime Bautista, during a briefing on the impact of the southwest monsoon, strengthened by Typhoon Gaemi, known in the Philippines as Carina, said that at this moment, they cannot operate at full capacity due to strong winds and high waves.
Heavy rains accompanying Gaemi, which passed near the archipelago earlier in the week, caused the deaths of 20 people in northern Philippines. Fatalities in Manila and provinces surrounding the capital were the result of flooding, landslides, electrocutions, and falling trees during the torrential rains that inundated Luzon, the most populated island in the archipelago, on Wednesday.
