MANILA — The Philippine Coast Guard on Monday expressed confidence that it could siphon the remaining oil from the sunken MT Princess Empress in Naujan, Oriental Mindoro within the 4-month deadline.

The PCG said the oil siphoning operations would take two or more weeks in June.

"Tingin namin kakayanin itong deadline na four months... Pero syempre depende sa panahon. Depende sa kung gaano kabilis yung operations na magagawa," PCG Rear Admiral Spokesperson Armand Balilo said.

(We think we can meet the 4-month deadline. But of course, it will depend on the weather and how quickly we can do the operations.)

The Dynamic Support Vessel (DSV) "Fire Opal" that will be deployed for the siphoning operations arrived in Oriental Mindoro on Monday after departing Singapore on May 19.

The Princess Empress was carrying 800,000 liters (210,000 gallons) of industrial fuel oil when it sank on February 28.

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Around 100,000 to 120,000 liters each may still be left in one or two containers of the tanker, the PCG estimated.

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