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  Channel NewsAsia 31 Aug 06
Oil slick hits Philippines' richest fishing grounds

Yahoo News 30 Aug 06
Philippines oil spill raises spectre of major disaster
by Cecil Morella

Philippines (AFP) - Unchecked damage from the worst-ever oil spill in the Philippines has raised fears of a local disaster similar in scale to major catastrophes like that of the Exxon Valdez.

While the amount of oil aboard the Solar I when it sank off Guimaras Island is a fraction of what the Valdez disgorged when it foundered off Alaska in 1989, experts say many more people could ultimately be affected.

Only one-tenth of the Solar's oil has leaked so far, leaving what experts call a ticking time-bomb on the ocean floor -- and while the Valdez spilled in a relatively remote area, hundreds of thousands of people depend on the Guimaras region for their livelihoods.

Marine biologist Nestor Yunque said the number of Alaskans dependent on the ecosystem harmed by the Valdez was minuscule compared to those on the coasts of Guimaras, Panay and Negros islands.

The speed with which the oil reached the Guimaras coast is a key concern, Yunque said, noting that it took time for the Valdez crude to hit the Alaska coast, allowing for some chemical disintegration of the pollutants.

"It took a while," Yunque said. "It will probably take three or six months before we will be able to see the actual damage (here)."

The Alaska spill contaminated about 1,300 miles (2,100 kilometers) of coastline, killed a quarter-million sea birds, thousands of otters and hundreds of seals.

Environmental economist Rodelio Subade said damage from the Solar, which went down August 11 in rough seas, was not limited to "tradeable goods" like fish stocks but that it could have an impact on generations of fishermen here.

"From the point of view of the economist, I can say that it will entail a huge environmental cost," Subade told AFP. The destruction in relative terms to major spills like the Valdez "could be close," he said.

Mangroves expert Resurreccion Sadaba said fish, mollusks and other marine organisms as well as coral reefs have started dying within the roughly 1,000-hectare (2,500-acre) Taclong national marine reserve.

The reserve took a direct and immediate hit when the Solar sank, carrying 500,000 gallons of industrial fuel. Only 50,000 gallons have leaked so far, and there are fears the other tanks could give way.

Sadaba said seedlings and saplings among some 90 hectares of mangrove thickets, vital shelters for fish fry, were already "showing signs of withering" after being suffocated by up to a meter (yard) of oil.

"They serve as the basis of the marine food chain," he told AFP. "If the mangrove system is removed, then the whole thing will collapse."

He said it would probably still take two years before the mass destruction of the mangroves would be observed -- raising fears that the situation will get much worse before it gets better. The reserve is a vital nursery for the nearby Sulu Sea and the Visayan Sea, two of the country's richest fishing grounds, either of which could be hit if the spill is not contained within the narrow straits on both sides of Guimaras.

The slick has already wiped out the tourism industry on the southern and eastern coast of Guimaras, with resorts already reporting mass cancellations for both this year and next.

A Japanese salvage vessel is en route to the wreck site to try to refloat the tanker or siphon off the remaining oil. For now, the coastguard is spraying dispersants to contain the slick, pushed by undersea currents and the seasonal southwest monsoons northwards toward the Visayan Sea.

When the wind shifts to the northeast in October, it is open seas between the tanker wreck and the Sulu Sea, the site of the massive Tubbataha Reefs, considered one of the world's most biologically diverse coral formations.

Channel NewsAsia 31 Aug 06
Oil slick hits Philippines' richest fishing grounds

ABOARD THE EDSA II, Philippines : A sunken tanker responsible for the Philippines' worst environmental disaster is leaking less oil, but the slick it caused has reached the country's richest fishing grounds, the coastguard has said.

Daniel Gayosa, who is commanding the search and rescue vessel EDSA II at the wreck site, told reporters on Wednesday the sunken 998-ton tanker, Solar 1, was leaking "less than 10 litres" of oil per day.

This compared with about 500 litres per day shortly after it sank in extremely deep waters south of Guimaras island on August 11.

"We still don't know if there is still oil in there. Those tanks are also watertight and it's possible some of them are still intact. (But) we still don't know their status," Gayosa said.

He said the oil that had leaked was "down to a sheen" two weeks after black sludge contaminated hundreds of kilometres of coastline and damaged a large marine reserve in Guimaras.

He added that since the oil had thinned it would not cause as much damage as before.

EDSA II was pressed into emergency duty after Solar 1 sank and has identified a near 20-nautical-mile slick from the wreck site towards the Sulu Sea.

There are now reports of oil in the Visayan Sea. It and the Sulu Sea comprise the Philippines' richest fishing grounds. The coastguard and private vessels had been trying to contain the oil slick within the Guimaras Strait to prevent it spreading to the two fishing grounds.

The authorities have fought the spill with containment booms and chemical dispersants for two weeks, while waiting for advanced equipment to raise the tanker or remove its remaining 450,000-gallon cargo of bunker oil.

Meanwhile the Japanese survey ship Shinsei Maru arrived in the central Philippine city of Iloilo on Wednesday. The ship, dispatched by the Fukuda Marine and Salvage Company, will send a remote-controlled submarine to inspect Solar 1, said Carlos Tan, a spokesman for local refiner Petron Corporation.

The survey vessel will determine the location, position and condition of the sunken tanker. A decision will then be taken on whether to refloat the vessel, siphon out the oil or bury the tanker. Fukuda Marine will likely handle any salvage project, Tan added

Separately, a Manila-based inquiry into the disaster was told that the Solar 1's captain may not have been qualified to command oil tankers.

Clemente Cancio, president of the Sunshine Maritime Development Corporation, Solar 1's owner, conceded that Captain Norberto Aguro did not have a license as master mariner of an oil tanker but instead had a license to pilot chemical tankers, although this license had expired in 2002.

"We believe a chemical tanker is more dangerous than an oil tanker," he told the inquiry. He said Aguro "was performing well, his credentials were in order," although Petron Corporation had reprimanded Aguro several times in the past for docking without tugboat assistance.

Aguro had previously admitted that he had sought refuge from bad weather at a port in Iloilo on August 10 but had gone out to sea on August 11. Aguro was "given the discretion of whether or not to proceed," Cancio said.

Asked if the captain had made a mistake, Cancio replied that "in hindsight sir, I would say he made the wrong decision."

Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez directed the immigration bureau to place Sunshine Maritime's nine directors, including Cancio, on a watchlist to prevent them from leaving the country.

The directors include four Japanese nationals. Gonzales said the company officials were being investigated for possible violations of environmental laws relating to the oil spill. - AFP/de
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