Initial oil siphoning from MTKR Terranova begins

Dennis Datu

ABS-CBN News

MANILA &mdash; The initial oil siphoning from the cargo tank of the sunken motor tanker MTKR Terranova in Limay, Bataan was held Tuesday.However, the oil flow from the hose connected to the cargo tank was weak and slow.The oil being pumped was received by the ISO tank on the barge of the salvor company, Harbor Star.According to Capt. Rudy Arcellana, the salvage master of Harbor Star Shipping Services who is leading the siphoning operations, they cannot rush the pumping because there are still adjustments needed in the hose connection to avoid accidents.&ldquo;Hindi naman dapat binibigla &lsquo;yun. Ina-adjust pa namin, mahina pa lang siyempre nagsisimula pa lang. May mga tubig pa na kasama dahil nagkaroon kami ng problema sa compressor, nabunot &lsquo;yung sa sensor kaya hindi kami nakapagbomba. Mabilis naman pero hindi pa malakas,&rdquo; said Arcellana.Within an hour, Harbor Star extracted oil from one of the eight cargo tanks to study the flow rate.&ldquo;Pag nakuha na namin ang flow rate, puwede na kami magbigay ng ilang araw ilang oras (tatagal ang siphoning operations),&rdquo; added Arcellana.Divers began connecting the hose to the cargo tank around noon.Water was directed through the hose into the cargo tank to raise the oil it contained.Once the oil was lifted, another hose was used to siphon it until it flowed into the waiting ISO tank.LCDR Michael John Encina, incident commander of the Bataan Oil Spill Response, said that the procedure conducted earlier was just the initial part of the siphoning operations.&ldquo;Ang intention po natin ay hindi biglain &lsquo;yung procedure. The mere fact that the reaction of the oil kung gaano po siya kabilis lumabas doon sa mga pipes po, so that&rsquo;s why it&rsquo;s initial pa lang po. It&rsquo;s not a full-blown siphoning procedure. Kasi when we say full-blown siphoning po, all of the eight tanks mayroon na pong hot tapping na rin po na ginagawa na rin po,&rdquo; said Encina.The initial plan was to siphon 300,000 liters from the 1.4 million liters of industrial fuel before floating the motor tanker.Once the ship floated, it would be towed to the shore where the oil siphoning would continue. However, the plan has changed.According to Encina, the salvaging company will now siphon all the oil from all the cargo tanks while the ship is still submerged to prevent a major disaster.Once all the oil has been siphoned out, salvage operations will then be carried out.&ldquo;At the same time, it will also prohibit the worst-case scenario na whatever happens to the ship, hindi magkakaroon ng oil spill. Ang intensyon po natin ngayon ay tanggalin lahat ng contaminants,&rdquo; Encina said.

&ldquo;Hindi naman dapat binibigla &lsquo;yun. Ina-adjust pa namin, mahina pa lang siyempre nagsisimula pa lang. May mga tubig pa na kasama dahil nagkaroon kami ng problema sa compressor, nabunot &lsquo;yung sa sensor kaya hindi kami nakapagbomba. Mabilis naman pero hindi pa malakas,&rdquo; said Arcellana.Within an hour, Harbor Star extracted oil from one of the eight cargo tanks to study the flow rate.&ldquo;Pag nakuha na namin ang flow rate, puwede na kami magbigay ng ilang araw ilang oras (tatagal ang siphoning operations),&rdquo; added Arcellana.Divers began connecting the hose to the cargo tank around noon.Water was directed through the hose into the cargo tank to raise the oil it contained.Once the oil was lifted, another hose was used to siphon it until it flowed into the waiting ISO tank.LCDR Michael John Encina, incident commander of the Bataan Oil Spill Response, said that the procedure conducted earlier was just the initial part of the siphoning operations.&ldquo;Ang intention po natin ay hindi biglain &lsquo;yung procedure. The mere fact that the reaction of the oil kung gaano po siya kabilis lumabas doon sa mga pipes po, so that&rsquo;s why it&rsquo;s initial pa lang po. It&rsquo;s not a full-blown siphoning procedure. Kasi when we say full-blown siphoning po, all of the eight tanks mayroon na pong hot tapping na rin po na ginagawa na rin po,&rdquo; said Encina.The initial plan was to siphon 300,000 liters from the 1.4 million liters of industrial fuel before floating the motor tanker.Once the ship floated, it would be towed to the shore where the oil siphoning would continue. However, the plan has changed.According to Encina, the salvaging company will now siphon all the oil from all the cargo tanks while the ship is still submerged to prevent a major disaster.Once all the oil has been siphoned out, salvage operations will then be carried out.&ldquo;At the same time, it will also prohibit the worst-case scenario na whatever happens to the ship, hindi magkakaroon ng oil spill. Ang intensyon po natin ngayon ay tanggalin lahat ng contaminants,&rdquo; Encina said.

The oil being pumped was received by the ISO tank on the barge of the salvor company, Harbor Star.According to Capt. Rudy Arcellana, the salvage master of Harbor Star Shipping Services who is leading the siphoning operations, they cannot rush the pumping because there are still adjustments needed in the hose connection to avoid accidents.

MANILA &mdash; The initial oil siphoning from the cargo tank of the sunken motor tanker MTKR Terranova in Limay, Bataan was held Tuesday.However, the oil flow from the hose connected to the cargo tank was weak and slow.

The initial oil siphoning from the cargo tank of the sunken motor tanker MTKR Terranova in Limay, Bataan was held Tuesday.

The initial oil siphoning from the cargo tank of the sunken motor tanker MTKR Terranova in Limay, Bataan was held Tuesday.

Initial oil siphoning from MTKR Terranova begins | ABS-CBN News

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Initial oil siphoning from MTKR Terranova begins

Initial oil siphoning from MTKR Terranova begins