Siphoning in Guimaras ends

By Ronron
April 3, 2007

The siphoning operations in Guimaras province where an oil tanker sank in August 2006 ended over the weekend, recovering a volume of bunker fuel way below the expected.

Officials said only around 9,000 liters of bunker fuel were recovered from two of the eight compartments initially suspected to contain the remaining 1.3 to 1.6 million liters of said oil from the ill-fated M/T Solar 1.

“Twenty-one days after its arrival, the oil recovery ship Allied Shield contracted by Sonsub completed its mission to ensure that no oil was left on Solar 1… This brings the last phase of the clean-up to a close,” said a statement released by Presidential Adviser for Western Visayas Rafael Coscolluela.

Reached by phone, Coscolluela told Manila Shimbun that the siphoning operations formally ended last Saturday. The Allied Shield arrived in Bacolod City last March 10 from Singapore where its Italian company is based.

“We had a very successful operation since we were able to complete the oil retrieval without any problem. More importantly, we can be assured that there is no more oil left on Solar 1,” Sonsub’s Director for Special Operations Mark Phibbs said in the same statement.

Coscolluela described the entire operations as “incident-free,” with “absolutely no accident,” therefore, “no cause for anxiety” among the people of Guimaras.

Coscolluela said that the retrieval of only 9,000 liters of bunker fuel only shows that indeed, most of the oil contents spilled into the water, contrary to initial estimates that only 300,000 liters of the 2.1 million Petron product were released into the sea when M/T Solar 1 sunk on August 11, 2006.

The ill-fated ship has sank 640 meters deep some nine miles southwest of Guimaras Island after it was batted by big waves while enroute to Mindanao from Bataan.

Coscolluela said the retrieved oil has been turned over to Petron for proper disposition upon the approval of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). It is being stored at Petron’s depot in Bacolod City.

He said the total cost of the operations, as relayed by Phibbs, could not be more than $6 million. Solar 1’s insurer, Protection and Indemnity (P&I), will pay the expenses.

“By and large, it gave a sense of relief to the people of Guimaras because the threat is already gone,” Coscolluela said of the effect of the completion of the siphoning operations to the locals of the province.

He said the Allied Shield already sailed to Singapore last Sunday evening.

With the completion of the siphoning operations, National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) Executive Officer retired Gen. Glenn Rabonza said the government can now “focus more on the rehabilitation efforts for Guimaras.”

“Part of the plan is a 50-million-peso science plan being organized by the Department of Science and Technology and UP (University of the Philippines) Visayas, led by Chancellor Glen Aguilar,” Rabonza said.

He disclosed that some P200 million from the P867 million supplemental budget intended for the rehabilitation of Guimaras had already been released to several agencies and the local government units.

“So, the work to rehabilitate Guimaras, particularly to the damaged environment is ongoing,” Rabonza said.

Petron Health, Safety and Environment Manager Caloy Tan also revealed that about P110 million has already been released as compensation to the affected fishermen of Guimaras.

“For the fishermen alone for the province of Guimaras, a little over 11,000 has been paid. Only 250 have yet to receive their check… For the province of Iloilo, 11,200 are due to be paid also after the Holy Week,” Tan said.

Resorts and pond owners in Guimaras and Iloilo will also be paid depending on their claims.

Tan said the payment will be sourced from the $330 million that is provided by the International Oil Pollution Compensation (IOPC) Fund.

The oil spill in Guimaras has been regarded as the worst in Philippine history./DMS