The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said that they have contained around half of the fuel from the submerged oil tanker which caused a massive oil spill in Oriental Mindoro.
MT Princess Empress was carrying 800,000 liters of fuel when it sank off Oriental Mindoro on February 28, 2023.
PCG Spokesperson Armand Balilo said that of the 800,000 liters of industrial fuel oil, the tanker now only contain 400,000 liters.
A Japanese remotely operated underwater vehicle has located the sunken oil tanker at a depth of 394.9 meters in the waters between Oriental Mindoro and Marinduque.
Balilo said the PCG is intensifying its efforts to retrieve the remaining fuel in the tanker.
He explained that they have retrieved a lot of oil already and their operations would be focused on the remaining oil to further prevent leakage. He said that one of its options is to use a remotely operated underwater vehicle to get rid of the oil in the remaining tankers.
PCG has reported that they collected a total of 10,163 liters of oily water and 123 sacks of oil-contaminated material in its off shore operations from March 1 to 17.
The spillage reached as far as Verde Island in Batangas and Taytay town in Palawan.