Second oil tanker sinks in Philippines

Manila: The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) on Sunday reported that a second oil tanker had sunk off Bataan province, west of Manila.

PCG spokesperson Rear Admiral Armando Balilo said the oil tanker MTKR Jason Bradley sank off Mariveles town around 5 p.m. local time on Saturday, Xinhua news agency reported.

He said three coast guard vessels went to the accident site and confirmed the sunken vessel's presence. The team confirmed the presence of an oil slick and oil sheen in the area. "They deployed an oil boom at the site to ensure that the oil sheen would not spread," he added.

PCG Lieutenant Commander Michael John Encina, the acting PCG station commander in Bataan province, said the MTKR Jason Bradley was not carrying cargo and just carry working fuel instead.

Encina added that salvage operations will begin soon and are expected to last one or two weeks.

Meanwhile, Balilo said that the siphoning of the industrial fuel oil from the Philippine tanker that sank Thursday off Limay town in Bataan province will be delayed as divers seal the leaking valves of nine tanks aboard the tanker. He said the divers are expected to finish sealing the nine leaking valves on Monday so that the siphoning can proceed on Tuesday.

Balilo said a minimal amount of oil sheen from the first sunken tanker had reached the waters off Hagonoy town in Bulacan province. However, he reiterated that the amount of oil spills remains manageable.