The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) has begun the oil siphoning for MTKR Terranova, following the completed installation of the flange valve plate and hot tapping operation on Wednesday, August 14.
In an update by PCG, they stated that a series of dives led to the successful opening of valves for the oil removal test. Apart from that, divers also marked the areas for the hot tap operations, bored stud links to secure equipment, and cleared debris from the hull.
“The safe working pressure during siphoning was maintained at a maximum of 0.15 bar. Approximately 300 liters of oil were transferred to a tank to test the equipment, with no leaks observed and minimal oiling effectively contained using one length of boom,” CG Lieutenant Commander Michael John Encina said.
He also shared that additional equipment is expected to facilitate the next phase of the oil transfer operations.
Oil siphoning from the MTKR Terranova tanks is ongoing. Each tank is estimated to be carrying 175,000 liters of intermediate fuel oil (IFO).
The MTKR Terranova was the first of the three vessels that capsized in the waters of Bataan resulting in an oil spill.
