Philippines Works to Refloat Tanker Driven Ashore in Storm

February 11 ------ The Philippine Coast Guard is monitoring the situation as efforts are underway to refloat a tanker that went ashore in the environmentally sensitive Oriental Mindoro region, a province in the western Philippines south of Manila. They are reporting that the 18 crewmembers aboard the vessel are safe and there have been no reports of pollution from the vessel.

The tanker Espada was traveling only with ballast from Batangas, south of Manila, to Negros in the southern Philippines when it encountered bad weather. The vessel sought shelter but eventually was driven aground. It is sitting on a muddy-sandy seabed, approximately 300 meters from a river estuary. The Coast Guard conducted an on-site verification. The inspections also showed that the vessel was in stable condition and that the hull appeared to be intact. No seawater ingress was reported.

Refloating efforts began on February 10. The Coast Guard reports that towlines were secured by a tug and that they were able to move the vessel approximately five meters. The effort was now focused on getting the vessel back into deep water.

A full inspection of the hull is planned once the vessel has been refloated. The Philippines, however, remains on alert, especially because it suffered a significant oil spill in the same general area of Oriental Mindoro three years ago in February 2023. The Princess Empress leaked over 800,000 liters of fuel, prompting a difficult recovery effort.

The Coast Guard Station Oriental Mindoro filed a formal notification with the Maritime Industry Authority regarding the grounding of the Espada. They requested that the vessel’s Cargo Ship Safety Certificate be suspended pending a thorough investigation. The authority has agreed that a mandatory, thorough safety inspection should be required before the vessel can resume operations.

Source: maritime-executive.com