Philippines confirms that the Terra Nova oil spill has already reached Manila Bay

The coast guard says the situation is not yet critical because the cargo ship’s warehouse is relatively intact.

Jul 27. (EUROPA PRESS) –

The Philippine Coast Guard confirmed on Saturday that the fuel spill caused by the sinking of the cargo ship Terra Nova last Thursday has already spread to Manila Bay and has requested the suspension of fishing activities in the area.

Coastguards have been diving into the waters of the bay on Saturday to determine the extent of the spill after the accident of the cargo ship, which was carrying 1.4 million litres of industrial fuel. One person died during the accident.

The slick has now tripled in size since Thursday and has now reached a diameter of between 12 and 14 kilometres, according to the coastguard’s assessment.

However, the coastguard has called for calm because the leak appears to be coming from the ship’s communication valves and the structure of the warehouse appears to be intact. “We are not yet in a state of alarm,” said the spokesman for the Coastguard, Vice Admiral Armando Balilo, in a press conference this Saturday reported by the Rappler website.

The next step will be to begin extracting the fuel stored on the cargo ship, but the sea conditions are currently difficult and the rescue services do not expect to complete this task until next weekend at the earliest.

Balilo said the Coast Guard is also preparing for a “worst case scenario” of a large-scale spill that could threaten the waters around Parañaque, Manila, Navotas, Bulacan and Pampanga, where containment equipment is already in place.

“There is no reason to worry at the moment, but we cannot be complacent about what is happening,” the vice admiral warned on Friday during a preliminary assessment.