THE Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) yesterday suspended the siphoning of oily waste on the sunken tanker Terranova in Bataan due to tropical storm ‘Enteng.’
“The contracted salvor, Habor Star, secured all siphoning lines and containment equipment, (and) closed all hot taps,” the PCG said in a statement.
The PCG said Harbor Star also postponed the transfer of the recovered oily waste from one vessel to another due to the weather disturbance.
Bataan was not included in the areas with wind signals. However, it was forecast to experience rains and strong to gale-force gusts yesterday until tomorrow.
The PCG also reported that the salvor was able to collect a total of 222,332 liters of oily waste from the storage tanks of the ill-fated vessel last Sunday.
This was the second-largest volume of oily waste so far siphoned off in one day since the siphoning operation began last August 19. The highest — 232,187 liters — was recorded last August 28.
“Harbor Star deployed additional pumps and said that the rate of oily waste flow during the 01 September 2024 operation was 22,315 liters per hour,” the PCG said.
The PCG said a total of 1,254,889.58 liters of oily waste were already collected from the vessel’s storage tanks since August 19.
MTKR Terranova was on the way to deliver 1.4 liters of industrial fuel oil to Iloilo, from Bataan, on July 25 when it was battered by huge waves, causing the vessel to sink off Limay, Bataan.
Harbor Star will start refloating the vessel once the siphoning of the oil is completed. It was aiming to finish the siphoning this Wednesday.
