(Bloomberg) -- The Philippines is racing against time to contain oil spill from a tanker that sank on Thursday to prevent an “environmental catastrophe” far worse than it’s seen in recent years.
“We should prepare for the worst scenario,” Philippine Coast Guard spokesman Rear Admiral Armand Balilo said in a briefing on Friday. Given the wind’s direction, the spill could reach the capital Manila and nearby cities if not contained as soon as possible, he said.
Philippine-flagged MT Terra Nova, carrying 1.4 million liters of industrial fuel oil, capsized east off Lamao Point in Bataan province, which faces Manila Bay as monsoon rains compounded by Typhoon Gaemi hit the capital region.
Balilo recalled that a Philippine tanker carrying 800,000 liters of industrial fuel that sank last year caused damage to a number of towns. “This is 1.4 million liters. Imagine what would be its effect and the wind is toward Manila. It won’t be good.”
A lack of equipment and people who could continuously work on containing the spill are among the key challenges, Balilo said. Still, the leak appears to be coming from the ship’s engine and not the cargo tank, he added.
The coast guard has set a target of seven days to finish siphoning off the oil from the sunken tanker, and has mobilized three vessels into the affected area. The agency, along with the Maritime Industry Authority, will probe the incident.
The sunken tanker “is a ticking time bomb that further imperils the health, safety and livelihoods of coastal communities around Manila Bay,” environmental group Greenpeace said in a statement on Thursday.
“The government and the companies involved must do everything to recover the vessel and its contents immediately to prevent further damage to the marine environment and coastal communities.”
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