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MANILA: A Philippine tanker carrying 1.4 million litres of industrial fuel oil capsized and sank near Manila on Thursday (July 25), authorities said, as they raced against time to control the leak.
The MT Terra Nova tanker was heading to the central Philippine city of Iloilo when it sank in the Manila Bay, about 7 kilometers from the capital, Limay, Bataan province, in the early hours of the morning.
The oil spill was discovered stretching for kilometres along the busy waterway.
“We are racing against time and we will do our best to immediately control the situation and stop the fuel leak,” Philippine Coast Guard spokesman Rear Admiral Armando Balilo told a news conference.
He warned that if all the oil in the tanker leaked out, it would be the largest oil spill in Philippine history.
“If there is a fuel spill, there is a great risk that Manila will be affected, even the Manila coastline will be affected because the fuel is located in the Manila Bay,” Balilo said.
Transport Secretary Jaime Bautista said 16 of the 17 crew members had been rescued.
The search for the missing crew members was underway, but Bautista said strong winds and high waves were hampering rescue efforts.
Four crew members are receiving treatment.
The Coast Guard said it was investigating “whether there was weather disturbance in the nearby waters” when the MT Terra Nova capsized and sank.
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