‘Full blast’ siphoning of industrial fuel from sunken tanker gets going

AUTHORITIES yesterday started the “full blast” siphoning of some 1.4 million liters of industrial fuel oil (IFO) from the tanker Terranova that sank off Limay, Bataan last July 25.

Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) Commandant Adm. Ronnie Gil Gavan said Harbor Star, the salvor hired by the owner of the sunken vessel, is aiming to complete the siphoning procedure in 14 days.

In a radio interview, Gavan said the salvor completed last Tuesday the hot tapping operation on the eight storage tanks of the vessel.

“This morning, they began the siphoning of the cargo oil. It will take around 14 days, according to the salvor yesterday (Tuesday), to complete the siphoning of the oil,” said Gavan.

“It (siphoning) started today (Wednesday). The initial estimate is that in 14 days, they will be able to take out the cargo,” Gavan added.

In an online press briefing, Coast Guard Bataan commander Lt. Cmdr. Michael John Encina said: “Definitely, this will be our full blast siphoning.”

Initial siphoning operations in the past days have resulted in the recovery of some 47,000 of oil.

Encina said the salvor is aiming to siphon off 200,000 liters of a mixture of oil and seawater per day.

Encina noted that seawater will be introduced inside the tank during the siphoning process to avoid the unnecessary movement of the vessel.

“So there will be a mixture of water and IFO (which will be siphoned off) during (the) procedure,” said Encina.

He said “other factors”, including transportation, were also considered in coming up with the 14-day timetable to complete the siphoning procedure.

Once the siphoning process is finished, Encina said the vessel will be refloated. He could not immediately say the duration of the refloating procedure.

“We’ve discussed the procedure but it’s not yet final,” he said.

Encina emphasized that the rate of the oil leaking from the vessel remains under control at one liter per hour. This has produced oil sheens which he said had been “properly contained.”