A Philippine-flagged tanker carrying 1.4 million liters of industrial fuel oil yesterday sank off Manila, authorities said, as they raced to contain a spill.
One crew member of the MT Terra Nova was killed when the tanker capsized in Manila Bay, nearly 7km off Limay municipality in Bataan province, as it sailed to the central city of Iloilo.
The vessel went down in rough seas as heavy rains fueled by Typhoon Gaemi and the seasonal monsoon lashed Manila and surrounding regions in recent days.
Photo: AFP / Philippine Coast Guard
An oil slick stretching several kilometers has been detected, and the Philippine Coast Guard was preparing to apply dispersants and deploy floating barriers to contain the spill.
Coast guard spokesman Rear Admiral Armando Balilo told a briefing earlier yesterday that authorities were “racing against time” to contain the spill and stop more fuel leaking.
It appeared so far that diesel fuel used to power the tanker was leaking into the sea, but not the industrial fuel oil cargo, Balilo said.
He warned that if all the industrial fuel oil in the tanker were to leak, it would be the biggest spill in Philippine history.
“There is a big danger that Manila will be affected, even the shoreline of Manila, if the fuel will leak, because it is within Manila Bay,” Balilo said.
Philippine Secretary of Transportation Jaime Bautista said that 16 of the 17 crew had been rescued from the stricken vessel.
The body of a missing crew member was found in the afternoon after rescuers spent hours searching the choppy waters, the coast guard said.
An investigation into the cause of the incident was under way, but Balilo said the vessel had not broken rules on heavy weather sailing.
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