Philippines 'prepares for worst' after oil spill

A coast guard personnel arranges booms, which are temporary floating barriers used to contain oil spills

The Philippine Coast Guard has deployed floating barriers and suction hoses to contain an oil spill and prevent it from reaching the capital, Manila.

Authorities are racing to stop the oil spill from the 65-metre-long (213 feet) MT Terra Nova, which capsized on Thursday as monsoon rains battered large swathes of the country.

The leak appeared to be coming from the ship's engine, not its cargo tank, which was carrying close to 1.5 million litres of industrial fuel, officials said.

There are fears that the spill, which stretches out over several kilometres, could be the worst in the country's history if it is not contained.

The coast guard is «preparing for the worst», said Rear Admiral Armand Balilo, the coast guard spokesman.

The area is also popular with fishermen and there are fears the spill could affect both the fishing industry and marine life.

«We are talking about industrial fuel here… It will definitely affect the marine environment and could even reach us here in Manila,» said Rear Adm Balilo.

Hernando Bacosa, an environmental sciences expert at the Mindanao State University,told the BBC that the amount of oil the MT Terra Nova was carrying would warrant the issuance of the country's highest oil spill alert.

«Manila Bay is where the Port of Manila is, the biggest port in the Philippines and the center of trade and economic activity. This could possibly paralyse the capital and the neighbouring areas,» he said.

Rear Adm Balilo estimated that it would take a week to drain oil from the ship, which capsized in an area with a depth of 34 metres (111 feet), according to initial assessments.

However, Mr Bacosa said the relatively shallow terrain could make it easier to siphon oil from the sea.

He compared it with an incident last year where an oil tanker sank off the coast of another Philippine province at a depth of almost 400 metres (1,312 feet) — stating that the deep waters made it more different to clean up the oil.

The MT Princess Empress had been carrying 800,000 litres of industrial fuel oil — coating beaches in black sludge when it spilt.

Monsoon rains have