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PCG says oil spill recovery operations in MT Princess Empress 'completed'

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Job Manahan, ABS-CBN News 

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="The Philippine Coast Guard deploy an oil spill boom and skimmer with manual scooping around the suspected area of the sunken MT Princess Empress approximately 7.1 nautical miles northeast of the shorelines of Balingawan Port, Lucta Port, and Buloc Bay in Oriental Mindoro on March 14, 2023. Photo courtesy of Malayan Towage and Salvage Corporation/Philippine Coast Guard/File." src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/news/06/17/20230315-mindoro-oil-spill-coast-guard-ho-3.jpg"/><figcaption>The Philippine Coast Guard deploy an oil spill boom and skimmer with manual scooping around the suspected area of the sunken MT Princess Empress approximately 7.1 nautical miles northeast of the shorelines of Balingawan Port, Lucta Port, and Buloc Bay in Oriental Mindoro on March 14, 2023. <em>Photo courtesy of Malayan Towage and Salvage Corporation/Philippine Coast Guard/File.</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA (<strong>UPDATED</strong>)— The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) on Saturday said the oil spill recovery efforts in the sunken MT Princess Empress in Naujan, Oriental Mindoro has already been &quot;completed.&quot; </p><p>PCG Spokesperson Armand Balilo said the inspection happened on Friday, and based on information shared to them by the Malayan Towage and Salvage Corp. (MSTC), which conducted the oil recovery efforts, all the 8 tanks inside the sunken tanker were empty. </p><p>&quot;Pinakita sa amin na wala nang laman ang mga tangke. So parang dineklare nila na completed na ang oil spill recovery sa Mindoro,&quot; Balilo told reporters in a media forum in Quezon City.</p><p>&quot;Base sa kanilang assessment, wala nang oil sa 8 tanke na inaakalang tatagas maliban na lang sa mga pipes na may mga drips na paunti-unti. Sabi ng salvage operator na unsuckable na,&quot; he added. </p><p>Balilo said the oil in the said pipes were stuck, and could no longer go up to the surface of the water.</p><p>The Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Office of the Civil Defense (OCD), Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, Department of Science and Technology, and local government of Oriental Mindoro saw the footage in the remotely-operated vessel.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/06/10/23/pcg-siphoning-oil-in-mt-princess-empress-may-be-finished-june-19">PCG: Siphoning oil in sunken MT Princess Empress may be finished June 19</a></li></ul><p>Despite this development, the official says the oil spill containment operation is not yet done. </p><p>This means that the clean-up operations in the shorelines and damage assessment is still ongoing.</p><p>&quot;Ibig sabihin noon, mayroon tayong chine-check sa shoreline kung may dapat pang linisin... Parang around 95 percent na &#x27;yung nalinis. We just have to make an evaluation,&quot; he said. </p><p>&quot;Mayroong mga imposibleng malinis, yung mga kumapit sa mga bato... kailangan lang siguro mag-usap usap ng stakeholders, government involved dito para masabi natin na tapos na ang problema natin sa oil spill,&quot; he added. </p><p>In a statement, PCG said the oil recovery efforts started on May 29. </p><p>It has been over 3 months since the oil spill first spread, after MT Princess Empress went down in rough seas near Oriental Mindoro while carrying 800,000 liters of industrial fuel oil on Feb. 28.</p><p>As of April, Pola, Oriental Mindoro has sustained around P130 million in damages from the oil spill that spread across the province&#x27;s waters, according to an official. </p><p>Some 4,800 fisherfolk and their families have been affected by the oil spill, a number of whom experienced respiratory illnesses aside from losing their livelihood.</p><div><br/><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2507868" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

PCG Spokesperson Armand Balilo said the inspection happened on Friday, and based on information shared to them, all the 8 tanks inside the sunken tanker were empty. 

PCG says oil spill recovery operations in MT Princess Empress 'completed'

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PCG says oil spill recovery operations in MT Princess Empress 'completed'

Job Manahan,

ABS-CBN News

Published June 17, 2023 11:15 AM PHT

|

Updated June 17, 2023 02:26 PM PHT

Read More:

Philippine Coast Guard

Armand Balilo

MT Princess Empress

PCG

Oriental Mindoro

oil spill

Mindoro oil spill

Malayan Towage and Salvage Corp

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