Search continues in Oriental Mindoro province, for the sunken cargo ship ‘Princess Empress’, which carried industrial fuel oil. Approximately 800,000 litres of oil have leaked into the sea, causing an initial 6km spill.
The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), reported that the motor tanker sank on February 27th due to engine overheating. The PCG initially stated that the oil spill source was the ship’s cargo.
Barnaby Lo of Aljazeera reports that since the oil spill has shrunk to 3km, it’s possible than the oil is coming from the ship’s engine rather than the cargo. PCG continues the effort to find the ship, in order to isolate the damage.
In the shoreline assessment conducted by the PCG in Pinamalayan, patches of emulsified oil were observed. It has also spread over approximately one hectare of waters near Sibale Island. Since March 2nd, Marine Environmental Protection Unit (MEPU) teams, other stakeholders, and the concerned Local Government Units (LGUs), have been informed by the PCG to proceed to the area for shoreline clean-up.
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