An oil spill spanning several kilometers has been detected within the busy waterway, and the Philippine Coast Guard is preparing to deploy floating barriers to contain the leak.
An investigation into the explanation for the incident is ongoing, but coast guard spokesman Rear Admiral Armando Balilo said the vessel didn’t break regulations on sailing in heavy weather conditions.
When the MT Terra Nova ship left Limay, no public storm warning signal was raised, “so there was no violation of rules and regulations,” Balilo said in a press release.
At a briefing on Thursday, Balilo said authorities were “racing against time” to contain the leak and forestall further fuel spills.
He warned that if all of the oil from the tanker leaks, it will be the most important spill in Philippine history.
“There is a great danger that the fuel spill will affect Manila and even its coastline because it is located in Manila Bay,” Balilo said.
Thousands of fishermen and tour operators make their living from fishing within the waters.
Transport Minister Jaime Bautista said 16 of the 17 crew members had been rescued from the stricken vessel.
The seek for the missing crew member is ongoing, but Bautista said strong winds and high waves were hampering rescue efforts.
Four crew members were receiving medical attention.
A photograph released by the Coast Guard shows the MT Terra Nova ship almost completely submerged in rough seas.
The tanker sank in a depth of 34 metres, which Balilo said was “significantly shallow” and meant that pumping the oil out of the tanker “could be possible quickly”.
Coast Guard Commander Admiral Ronnie Gavan said it had been determined that it will take seven days to finish the pumping operation.
The Coast Guard said in a report that the oil slick, which stretched for about 3.7 km (2.3 miles), was being carried by a “strong current” in an east-northeast direction.
Marine environmental protection staff were mobilised to assist contain the spill.
“This will definitely affect the marine environment,” Balilo said, describing the quantity of oil on the ship as “huge.”
One of the worst oil spills within the Philippines occurred in February 2023, when a tanker carrying 800,000 liters of business heating oil sank off the coast of the central island of Mindoro.
Diesel fuel and thick crude oil from the ship contaminated waters and beaches along the coast of Oriental Mindoro province, devastating the fishing and tourism industries.
The oil was spread over an area spanning lots of of kilometres, in waters renowned for having a few of the most diverse marine life on the planet.
Thousands of fishermen were ordered to remain on land and bathing was banned.
In 2006, a tanker sank off the central island of Guimaras, spilling tens of hundreds of gallons of oil. A marine reserve was destroyed, local fishing grounds were ruined and sections of the coast were covered in black sludge.
