Marine pollution

Citation

(2008), "Marine pollution", Disaster Prevention and Management, Vol. 17 No. 5. https://doi.org/10.1108/dpm.2008.07317ead.001

Marine pollution

Article Type: Disaster database From: Disaster Prevention and Management, Volume 17, Issue 5

Solar 1 (Philippines)

A press report, dated today, states: The Philippine Government will need at least pesos 700 million for the clean-up operation alone in the Guimaras Strait, where 2.7 million litres of bunker fuel were spilled. This proposed budget does not include the expenses needed to salve non-specific tanker Solar 1, a Philippine Coast Guard statement said. It was not clear though if Petron Corporation and Sunshine Maritime Development Corporation are amenable to the proposal since their current main concern is salving the vessel, which is believed to be lying 3,000 feet below sea level. The PCG said the spill would worsen without the urgent assistance from foreign experts in raising the vessel. Lieutenant-Commander Joseph Coyme, spokesman for the PCG, said that a clean-up operation is a must at this time to prevent the oil sludge from further damaging the Guimaras coastal areas and from reaching the coasts of Iloilo and Negros Occidental. Sunshine Maritime Development Corporation, the vessel’s owners, have hired British experts through its international insurance and brokerage partner. The team of experts arrived in Guimaras yesterday. They were expected to conduct a water survey to determine whether they can reach the ocean floor of the Guimaras Strait. Guimaras Governor Rahman Nava earlier recommended that the sunken vessel be salved before the clean-up operation is carried out. Nava said he believed that an oil spill containment operation would be futile if the vessel, which still holds more than a million litres of oil, remains on the sea floor. It is believed that the remaining oil in the vessel is leaking by the day. Coyme agreed saying the vessel needs to be re-floated before the clean-up begins. The spill, he added, has already devastated nature sites and covered miles of the Guimaras coastline with black sludge. While the oil slick cannot be cleaned up at the moment, teams were trying to contain it with booms and chemical dispersants, Coyme said. Nava said the environmental disaster had already affected more than 200 km of the Guimaras coastline, damaging mangrove swamps, seaweed plantations and coral reefs. More than 3,000 families from Nueva Valencia and Sibunag towns have already been affected causing the Provincial Government to start a food program. The PCG and the Bureau of Fishery and Aquatic Resources also warned people against selling or eating fish and shellfish harvested from the areas.

18 August 2006

The Philippine Coast Guard convened a Special Board of Marine Inquiry today at the Coast Guard Western Visayas District Headquarters in Iloilo City in central Philippines to investigate the sinking of non specific tanker Solar 1. The Board was convened even as the office of Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo promised a swift investigation of the sinking of the vessel and the resulting oil spill. “As we zero in on containment and cleanup, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Philippine Coast Guard are fast-tracking the investigation of this incident, which would also encompass recommendations to prevent a recurrence of such ecological disasters, and the reparations due for the rehabilitation of damaged marine resources,” a statement released by the Palace said. The resulting oil spill has ravaged hundreds of kilometers of Guimaras coastline causing millions of pesos in damages to both the environment and business in the area.

18 August 2006

Retrieving the sunken non-specific tanker Solar 1 is already next to impossible. This Clemente Cancio president of Sushine Maritime Development Corporation (SMDC), owner of Solar 1, said of the tanker now lying at a depth of 600 metres off Nueva Valencia, Guimaras. Cancio said it is already almost impossible to salve the vessel even with the aid of modern equipment because the water is too deep. Retrieving Solar 1 from the bottom of the sea is eyed as a possible solution to stop the continued oil spill. It is believed that bunker oil has not yet fully seeped out of the tanker’s oil compartments. However, Cancio said that two British experts from the International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation will arrive today to asses the condition of the sunken vessel. Cancio said they have to find out what is happening under water before they can mount plans to plug the leaking tanker. They are also contemplating of using robotics. Cancio said the sinking of the vessel is considered a loss to the company but they are not running away from their responsibilities especially to the province of Guimaras. He stressed out that they will not turn their back. “We already have people on the ground to coordinate with the provincial officials,” Cancio said. He added that SMDC will do whatever that they can to help the residents affected by the oil spill. Guimaras Governor JC Rahman Nava said about 5,000 people dependent on fishing as livelihood had been affected by the disaster so far. The company, through their insurance firm, will also shoulder all the expenses for clean up and rehabilitation of the affected areas, he said. Cancio also clarified that Solar 1 was in “seaworthy condition” when it left its port of call. He said we always comply with the rules and regulations set by the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina). Cancio, on the other hand, denied the allegations of one of the 18 survivors that the company neglected their obligations to the crew. He said necessary assistance were already given to the vessel’s surviving crew members. Meanwhile, two of the vessel’s crew are still missing. Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Angelo Reyes visited Guimaras province on Wednesday to personally check on the extent of damage the oil spill has brought to marine life. Reyes told Governor Nava that the national government is working out to get help from international agencies to contain the massive oil slick. He is confident that the island-province of Guimaras will receive foreign assistance, the country, being a signatory to the Maritime International Treaty for Pollution. Reyes disclosed that the government had initially asked for equipment and assistance of experts from Japan and Indonesia. The oil sludge reportedly affected a wide area of coral reef reserves at Taklong Island, a marine reserve sanctuary. Hardest hit are the coastal barangays of Lapaz, San Roque, Lucmayan, Tando, Dolores, Cabalagnan, Panobolon, Canhawan, Igdarapdap, San Antonio and Guiwanon. The oil spill also reached the neighboring barangays of Alegria, Sitio Naoway, Siraray Island, San Isidro, and Ususan Island. Two famous island resorts, the Nagarao and Inampulogan Islands were already reached by the oil spill. Barangays Sabang, Bubog, Sebaste, Sebario, Nadulao and Natunga Islands are also affected. There were also reports that the oil sludge has reached as far as the coastal areas of Pulupandan and Valladolid in Negros Occidental. Two vessels from the Philippine Coast Guard are already in Guimaras strait spraying dispersants to contain the oil spill. One is taking care of the east side of the province and the other the southern side which is badly affected of the oil spill. Also two tugs from Petron and five more boats from the Sunshine Maritime Development Corporation are helping in the clean up drive. Community cooperation is also being sought with Nava calling on residents of coastal areas to put up improvised stoppers like bamboos to block the shore not yet reached by the oil sludge. Meanwhile, the provincial government of Guimaras has yet to decide on whether SMDC and Petron Corporation will be sued for the oil spill that has already affected the island’s entire southern flank. “We have not talked about it yet,” said Governor JC Rahman Nava during a press conference Wednesday, together with Environment Secretary Angelo Reyes. “But that is an option.” Nava said the legal team of Taskforce Sunrise, the group formed specifically to address the oil spill, is looking at the possibility of suing the two companies. “They are preparing all the evidence needed,” the governor said. The team is still waiting for a copy of the contract between Petron and SMDC. Petron chartered SMDC to deliver P40 million worth of industrial oil for a power plant in Mindanao. The legal team is asking for more time, until next week to come up with a recommendation, Nava said.

19 August 2006

Petron Corp. faces a congressional investigation over the oil spill from non-specific tanker Solar 1 in Guimaras, Iloilo, that has blackened kilometres of coastline and disrupted the lives of thousands of fisher-folk. On Friday (Aug 18) Petron accepted responsibility for the environmental mess. It said it would help in the cleanup and lend assistance to affected villagers. Petron had chartered the Solar 1 to carry 500,000 gallons of bunker from Bataan to Zamboanga. The joint House Committees on Natural Resources and on Ecology as well as the Committee on Oversight will summon Petron officials to an inquiry. If found liable, the company could be charged in court, Agusan del Norte Rep. Leovigildo Banaag, chairman of the Committee on Natural Resources, said Friday. Banaag said the three committees would hold an initial inquiry next week.

20 August 2006

Initial findings from a Board of Marine Inquiry investigation of the August 11 oil spill in Guimaras reveal that the safety management certificate of non specific tanker Solar 1 had already expired. The board also suspended the vessel’s captain Norberto Aguro for failing to undergo oil tanker training and management. Marina has ordered the immediate grounding of the two sister vessels of Solar 1. Arnie Santiago, acting enforcement manager of Marina in Manila, identified the two sister vessels as Solar 2 and Solar 3. “We will not allow them to operate until the probe on the sinking is over,” he said during the Regional Disaster Coordinating Council (RDCC) 6 meeting here. The Board of Marine Inquiry, an agency under Marina, likewise recommended the filing of administrative charges against Aguro and the Sunshine Maritime Development Corporation, pending further investigations. Solar 1 left Limay town in Bataan on August 9 en route to Sangali town in Zamboanga del Sur, southern Philippines. It was contracted by Petron to ship two million litres of bunker fuel to the Western Mindanao Power Corporation. Region 6 Coast Guard investigations showed that early in the morning of August 10, crew members had already noticed that the vessel’s chain locker, the compartment that holds the anchor, had taken in water and the vessel itself had begun to lean by about six degrees to the right. Despite this, Aguro gave the order to sail toward Iloilo. Then at around noon while traversing Iloilo strait toward open sea to Zamboanga, the vessel leaned further to around 10 degrees. At around 1600, Aguro made a right turn to Iloilo when the vessel was already badly leaning right with its head down. He gave an order to abandon ship at 16.6 miles southwest of Lusaran Point in Nueva Valencia town, Guimaras island. Seventeen crew members including Aguro and two surveyors made it to the shore while two others, Victor Morados and Art Ian Nabua, failed to jump off to the sea. They remain missing.

20 August 2006

A Special Board of Marine Inquiry looking into the cause of the sinking of non specific tanker Solar 1 uncovered a number of shortcomings in its safety standards. Local newspaper reports indicated that initial findings by the Board revealed that Solar 1’s ISM certificate had expired and that its master, Norberto Aguro, had failed to undergo oil tanker training and management. These findings were disputed by the tanker’s owner and operator, Sunshine Maritime Development Corporation, however. “The reports are inaccurate. All our safety certificates are up to date and the master of the Solar 1 has undertaken all the relevant courses,” Sunshine Maritime operations manager Louie Noel said. In the meantime, the Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA), the regulatory agency for the local maritime industry, said that it had ordered the immediate grounding of Solar 1’s two sister vessels Solar 2 and Solar 3 to enable MARINA to carry out safety inspections on these vessels.

21 August 2006

Environmental watchdog Greenpeace said on Sunday (August 20) that it was “shocked” by the extent of damage caused by the Philippines’ worst ever oil spill and called on the government to treat the raising of the sunken non specific tanker Solar 1 as a matter of urgency. “It’s really bad out there,” Athena Ballesteros, climate and energy campaigner for Greenpeace International, said. “The extent of damage to such a wonderful part of the Philippines shocked us all.” “The government must treat, as a matter of urgency, the raising of the tanker before more damage is done,” she said. Some 50,000 gallons of oil has leaked from the vessel with some 450,000 gallons still in its hold. Oil has contaminated 220 kilometres of coastline and destroyed 454 hectares of mangroves and 58 hectares of seaweed farms, Gov. Joaquin Rahman Nava of Guimaras said over the weekend. He said the spill had also destroyed the livelihoods of thousands of people dependent on fishing for a living. Greenpeace says it will take several months to draw up its report on the full environmental impact of the spill. Harold Harder, Coast Guard regional commander, said the slick, stretching 15 nautical miles, was slowly being carried by ocean currents into the Guimaras Strait opposite Negros island. President Arroyo on Saturday said the government had sought the help of the USA, Japan and Indonesia to try and re-float the tanker. Fernando Hicap, national chairman of the Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamama-lakayang Pilipinas (Pamala-kaya), said Petron should set aside P10 billion for the relief and rehabilitation of Guimaras. Hicap suggested the government send troops to Guimaras to help in the cleanup.

21 August 2006

Petron Corp. is negotiating with a Singaporean company to bring in advanced technology that would determine the exact location of non-specific tanker Solar 1 that sank off Guimaras island and siphon off the remaining bunker oil still in the vessel. Lori Tan of the World Wide Fund said Petron, which chartered the ill-fated Solar 1, will bring in deep-sea contractors who will use a side scan zoner to determine the wreck’s actual location on the seabed, a remotely piloted submersible to find the leak, and hot tap to siphon the oil that is still contained in the tanker’s hold. Environment Secretary Angelo Reyes and Tan believe the cleanup might take two years if all the needed technology and assistance arrive soon. Meanwhile, the Coast Guard reported over the weekend that bunker fuel leaking at a fast rate from Solar 1 has already reached northern Iloilo. Apart from the island-province, the bunker fuel spill has also reportedly affected at least two beach resorts in Negros Occidental as well as the Taklong Island National Marine Reserve located at the southern tip of Guimaras island which serves as a sanctuary for hundreds of endangered species of fish, sea grasses, mangroves and hard corals. The government has already put Guimaras island and affected towns in Negros Occidental under a state of calamity and sought help from Japan and Indonesia in containing what is considered as the country’s worst oil spill. In Guimaras alone, over 15 percent of the province’s 155,000 population, or roughly 23,000 people, lost their livelihood with fishermen in hardest-hit town of Nueva Valencia now relying on relief goods for survival. Meanwhile, a fisher-folk group said yesterday close to P300 million worth of livelihood for more than 10,000 fishermen have been lost. The oil slick coming from the vessel has split into several branches that have drifted into different directions, he added. Jarder said the presence of oil sheens has been confirmed in the seas off Bay-an, Ajuy in northern Iloilo, more than 24 nautical miles from where the tanker sank.

22 August 2006

Bunker fuel continued to leak from sunken non-specific tanker Solar 1 in the central Philippines, causing the worst oil spill in the country, environmentalists and coast guard officials said today. Coast guard chief Vice Admiral Arthur Gosingan said some 200 litres of oil were leaking every hour into the seas around Guimaras Island, 495 km south of Manila. Gosingan said the coast guard was still having a hard time pinpointing the exact location of the vessel because of the strong undercurrent. “We don’t know the exact location of the source of the oil spill because of the undercurrent,” he said. “The oil moves with the current so we cannot pinpoint the exact location.” Solar 1 was carrying an estimated two million litres of industrial oil when it sank on August 11. Authorities said an estimated 300,000 litres have already spilled into the sea. Virginia Ruivivar, a spokeswoman for Petron Corporation, which chartered the vessel, disputed the Coast Guard claims, adding that aerial surveys indicated the leak had stopped. “Based on our latest aerial surveillance, there is evidence that suggests that the oil coming from the vessel has stopped,” she said. “There is no oil slick in the area where the vessel has sunk.” Ruivivar added that Petron had already engaged the services of a company that could undertake deep-sea inspection and salvage operations. “Our primary goal within the next few days is to determine how the fuel cargo can be safely retrieved from where it is,” she added. Coast guard and Philippine navy officials admitted that they do not have the capability to salvage the vessel, which lies 3,000 feet underwater. Commander Harold Harder, a regional Coast Guard chief, said the oil slick has already reached the waters of nearby Iloilo province. The sludge has also affected at least five towns in Negros Occidental province, just across Guimaras. The oil spill has already affected some 40,000 people who depend on fishing for their livelihoods. It has damaged about 300 km of coastline, 500 hectares of mangroves and 60 hectares of seaweed plantations.

23 August 2006

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo formed a task force on Tuesday (August 22) to oversee the cleanup of the country’s worst oil spill and the retrieval of the bunker fuel oil still in the hold of non specific tanker Solar 1. The task force was formed after Ms Arroyo met with Defence Secretary Avelino Cruz, Environment Secretary Angelo Reyes, Transportation Secretary Leandro Mendoza and Philippine Coast Guard chief Vice Admiral Art Gosingan. Also present at the meeting were Sen. Richard Gordon and officials of Petron Corp. Joining the defence, environment, transportation departments and the PCG in the task force are the departments of health and energy. Cruz, head of Task Force Guimaras, said the formation of the group more than two weeks after the disaster did not come late. “The forming of the task force is to formalize what had been happening on the ground and in order for government to have a plan for the medium and long term,” Cruz told reporters. He said he expected that the cost of cleaning up and retrieving the oil from the sea would be “substantial” but noted that Petron and the owner of the vessel would foot the bill. Reyes said it was difficult to estimate the cost of the damage to the environment and to the economy at this point because the sunken tanker continued to leak. He described the oil spill as a “disaster in progress.” Cruz said the PCG was assigned to lead the retrieval of the oil from the sea and to investigate the cause of the spill through its Special Board of Marine Inquiry. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources will be responsible for preventing further damage to the environment. Mendoza said he had ordered the creation of the Special Board of Marine Inquiry to determine the culpability of those involved in the spill. It was set to hold its first hearing today at the PCG headquarters. “We expect to finish the investigation as soon as possible and bring to justice the person responsible for this catastrophe,” Mendoza said. Cruz said the task force would release money to the provincial disaster coordinating councils of Guimaras, Iloilo and Negros Occidental to compensate people involved in the cleanup operations. A person is paid 200 pesos a day for the work. “Petron will be reimbursing these funds and most important, Petron has assumed the responsibility of surveying all the way to recovering and siphoning off the remaining oil still in the sunken vessel,” the defence secretary said. Senate President Manuel Villar said Petron must be made to pay for the damage wrought by the spill. He has filed a resolution seeking a Senate inquiry into the oil spill. The Integrated Bar of the Philippines will also conduct a fact-finding investigation.

23 August 2006

Petron Corp., charter of non-specific tanker Solar 1, said today that it had contracted Okinawa-based salvor Fukada Salvage and Marine Works to pinpoint the location of the Solar 1 and conduct an underwater survey of the wreck. A salvage ship of Fukada Salvage, equipped with an ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle), is expected to arrive the site of the sinking off Guimaras island in central Philippines within three days. “While our aerial surveys indicate that the leak has stopped, we have been gravely concerned about the possibility that the oil remaining in the vessel will continue to be released into the environment,” Petron Chairman and CEO Nicasio I. Alcantara said. “With the arrival of the ship we hope to establish the real condition of Solar 1 and put to rest all this speculation.” The Japanese salvors are also expected to determine if it would be practical to re-float the vessel, which is estimated to have sunk to a depth of between 1,800 to 2,100 feet, or just retrieve the remaining oil in its storage tanks. Petron said that it has been coordinating with the Ship-owners’ Mutual Protection and Indemnity Association (Luxembourg), the insurance company providing P&I coverage for the Solar 1. Petron said that it will also assist in securing customs and other government clearances for Fukada Salvage

24 August 2006

Carlos Tan, Petron Corporations health and safety manager, said Wednesday (August 23) said Petron has contracted the Fukada Salvage and Marine Works Co. Ltd. For the salvage operation. Petron had chartered non-specific tanker Solar 1 to ship 500,000 gallons of oil from Luzon to Zamboanga. Tan said the salvage ship would come from Okinawa, Japan, and is expected to arrive Friday or Saturday. “Petron took time to get the services of this salvage ship because it wants the best deep-sea salvage operator,” he said. Philippine authorities had been trying to decide whether to re-float the vessel or siphon off the oil still onboard. The salvage ship is equipped with seabed scanners and has a remotely operated submersible that can determine the position and condition of the tanker, Petron said. Two of the tanker’s 20 crewmen remain missing. The Coast Guard said more oil has started to leak from the tanker, a claim Petron has disputed. “While our aerial surveys indicate that the leak has stopped, we have been gravely concerned about the possibility that the oil remaining in the vessel will continue to be released into the environment,” said Petron Chairman Nicasio Alcantara. The Japanese Embassy said experts from the Japanese Coast Guard are in Guimaras trying to assess the damage. “A four-member assessment team from the United States Coast Guard and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency also arrived in Manila Tuesday and were heading to Guimaras to help assess the scale of the spill,” said Stacy MacTaggert, spokeswoman for the US Embassy. Tan said that once the tanker’s location is confirmed, Fukada would send down the submersible to inspect the hull and find the leak. Once the source of the leak has been pinpointed, the salvaging ship would reel out the umbilical with a hot tap to suck out the remaining oil. Tan said that after the oil is siphoned out, the wreck would be raised. “The tanker cannot be immediately retrieved, because we run the risk of halving it, which may spell a greater disaster,” he said. On Wednesday the President ordered P20 million released to the local officials of the provinces of Negros Occidental, Iloilo and Guimaras to help clean up the oil spill.

24 August 2006

An international pollution fund will be used to compensate those affected by an oil spill that has ravaged the environment and economy of a central Philippine island, an oil company official said today. Up to $301 million dollars from the International Oil Pollution Compensation Fund would be available to thousands of poor fishermen, resort owners and others on Guimaras Island who lost their livelihood after oil leaked from non specific tanker Solar 1 when it sank south of the island two weeks ago, said Nicasio Alcantara, chairman of oil refiner Petron Corp. He said the fund was expected to put up a claims office in Guimaras, about 500 km south-east of Manila, by next week to start processing claims. “What we would want to do is to have a system that will enable the claimants to file their claims properly and be compensated,” he said. He said, however, that Petron, the country’s largest oil refiner, was not directly responsible for the disaster. He blamed the vessel’s owner, Sunshine Maritime Development Corp. The oil came from a Petron plant in northern Bataan province and was headed to a power plant in the southern Philippines. Arnie Santiago, chief investigator for the Maritime Industry Authority, said the vessel’s master was not certified to handle his cargo of oil, having been trained only to head a chemical tanker crew. A Coast Guard report said that despite being buffeted by large waves and taking on water, the vessel’s master proceeded with the trip after passing Guimaras. The vessel sank on August 11 as it tried to turn back to safer waters. The Guimaras provincial government has reported that more than 26,000 people directly and indirectly dependent on fishing have been affected. The oil slick also damaged about 220 km of coastline, 450 hectares of mangroves and 116 hectares of seaweed plantations. Two popular island and several beach resorts also have been damaged. “We at Petron deeply regret this unfortunate incident and will take responsibility in addressing the containment and recovery of the oil spill and more importantly map out the long-term rehabilitation of the island of Guimaras,” Alcantara said in a statement. He said the company had hired more than 800 villagers at pesos 200 a day to help it clean up beaches and mangroves. He could not immediately estimate how much company funds have already been spent for the clean up, “but what we have is really our balance sheet that stands behind our commitment” to do the job. The vessel sank in about 900 metres of water. Coast Guard officials estimate it has spilled about 350,000 litres of oil since it sank. Three members of the Japan Disaster Relief Team and a four-person team from the US Coast Guard and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration were in Guimaras to help assess the damage. Fukada Salvage and Marine Works Co Ltd salvage vessel Shinsei Maru will be used to inspect the vessel, Alcantara said. Shinsei Maru is capable of providing images of sunken vessels SOLAR 1 (Philippines)

7 September 2006

The Board of Marine Inquiry reported today that non-specific tanker Solar 1 was overloaded before it sank near Guimaras Island last month. A load-line certificate issued by Suzara Inc revealed that the vessel’s draught should not exceed 4.85 metres. Capt Norberto Aguro told investigators that the vessel’s draught after cargo loading was 5.1 metres, which meant that the part of the vessel that was submerged exceeded the safety limit by 0.25 metres. The board has yet to compute how many litres of excess bunker fuel were loaded. Aguro initially declared that the vessel was stable before it left Bataan for Zamboanga but the SBMI said it is the master’s responsibility to make sure that the vessel did not exceed its required cargo. Aguro also said that, according to Petron standards, there was no cargo overload but he has yet to show documents to support his claim. The Philippine Coast Guard today spotted another oil sheen near Guimaras island, confirming reports that the vessel is still leaking oil. An aerial survey spotted the one kilometre oil sheen 7.8 nautical miles south-west of Unisan Island in Guimaras, which is directly above the sunken vessel. PCG boats sprayed chemical dispersants in the area to remove the oil sheen. The national government today announced that it is stepping up medical assistance to residents and fishermen affected by the oil spill on Guimaras Island and nearby areas. Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said efforts to help families and children affected by the oil slick were being exerted by Task Force Guimaras. The President issued the order yesterday at a meeting with the National Disaster Coordinating Council and Task Force Guimaras at the Raymen Beach Resort. She told Defence Secretary Avelino Cruz to focus on the health of affected residents. On instructions from the President, Task Force Guimaras is sealing off the affected shorelines to prevent people, especially children, from being exposed to the pollutant that could affect their health. The instruction came following reports of increasing health problems not only in Guimaras but in Iloilo, Negros and Panay. These problems include chest pain and skin diseases. Bunya added that President. Arroyo is determined to exhaust all means to ensure that the damage brought by the oil spill “will not take its toll on the health of local residents who have had enough of the adverse effects of this tragedy.” In addition to the clean-up of the island’s shorelines and the recovery of the oil still in the sunken vessel, Task Force Guimaras has been ordered to continue with the relief program, carry out an integrated rehabilitation plan and provide alternative livelihood for the fishermen, among others. To achieve these goals, Task Force Guimaras will work closely with the Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council, the Departments of Science and Technology, of Social Welfare and Development and of Health, the University of the Philippines-Visayas and the Worldwide Wildlife Fund. It is also the task force’s mandate to secure the release of the $310-million assistance from the International Oil Pollution Fund to address property damage, and pay for the expenses incurred in the clean-up, restoration and rehabilitation of the environment. Task Force Guimaras will implement the Maritime Industry Authority ruling, which requires all oil tankers plying the country’s sea lanes to be equipped with double hulls and double floors by April, 2008. It will also submit a proposed law to Congress that will provide civil liability compensation relating to oil spills.

8 September 2006

A crewman of non-specific tanker Solar 1 admitted that their captain, Norberto Aguro, was sleeping when the vessel began sinking off Guimaras Island on August 11. Pump man Jesse Angeling also identified Hiroyasu Yamaguchi as the owner of Sunshine of Maritime Development Corporation (SMDC), contrary to the Japanese national’s denial. Angeling told the Department of Justice Task Force Guimaras that it is normal for crewmen and ship captains to take a “siesta” while sailing if there is not too much work to be done. He said Aguro was awakened by his auxiliary captain when the vessel was already listing badly. Angeling also admitted that the vessel took on water twice. The first time, he said, they had to dock in Iloilo to pump the water out. But when asked if they checked the vessel’s hull and repaired any holes after that, he said, “No.” When Angeling’s turn to be grilled by the panel came, he was immediately asked if he knew Yamaguchi who was preparing to leave the DoJ. Angeling identified Yamaguchi as “may-ari po (he is the owner)” of SMDC. During his testimony, Yamaguchi said he is not the owner but only treasurer and chairman of the board from 2002-2005 after which he sold his shares in the firm. He said Clemente Cancio is the highest ranking official of SMDC. The other Japanese incorporators, Tomoki Tsubomoto, Hiromi Irishika and Mototsugu Yamaguchi, have yet to appear before the DoJ.

10 September 2006

The Philippine Coast Guard has been placed in an awkward position of being both an investigator and the subject of an investigation in connection with the sinking of non-specific tanker Solar 1. The Philippine Coast Guard is by law the primary agency tasked with investigating marine casualties through a quasi-judicial body called the Special Board of Marine Inquiry. A few days after the vessel sank on August 11 and caused a massive oil spill along the Guimaras island coast, the Coast Guard convened a Special Board of Marine Inquiry. The Board is currently conducting an investigation to determine liability for the accident. The gravity of the oil spill and the resulting public outcry, however, has forced Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to order the Department of Justice to conduct a “fast track” investigation into the accident. Driven by public pressure, the Justice Department has not limited the investigation to the owners and charterers of the Solar 1 but included the Coast Guard as well. The inclusion of the Coast Guard in the investigation was prompted by reports that the vessel had left port in an allegedly un-seaworthy and overloaded condition and that its master was not qualified to operate an oil tanker. Critics noted that the Philippine Coast Guard as the agency tasked with enforcing maritime safety rules and regulations failed to do its job when it allowed the Solar 1 to leave port.

12 September 2006

The Department of Justice will be filing criminal charges against the owners of non-specific tanker Solar 1 for alleged violation of the Philippine’s anti-dummy law. In its ten-page initial report, the Justice Department directed the National Bureau of Investigation to secure additional evidence preparatory to the filing of a criminal case against the owners, officers and incorporators of Sunshine Maritime Development Corporation, the company which owns and operates the Solar 1. Under Philippine law, only shipping companies which have at least 60 percent Filipino ownership can operate in the coastwise trade. Securities and Exchange documents showed, however, that of Sunshine Maritime’s paid-up capital of Pesos5.5 million (US$110,000 dollars), Pesos4 million came from Japanese shareholders. This is a clear indication that the company was controlled by Japanese investors. Four of the company’s nine board members are Japanese nationals. If convicted, the owners of the company could face between five and 15 years imprisonment.

12 September 2006

The Philippines wants to drill through the hull of non-specific tanker Solar 1 and siphon off its cargo of industrial fuel to curtail pollution washing up on the central island of Guimaras, disaster officials said today. The tanker still holding around 1.5 million litres of oil. “We will siphon off that oil from that sunken tanker,” Avelino Cruz, the defence secretary and head of a government task force to clean up the country’s worst oil spill, told a news conference. He said the government of the developing Southeast Asian nation was awaiting a decision from the London-based International Oil Pollution Compensation (IOPC) agency on whether it would fund efforts to recover the fuel. “We’ll know that by early next week,” Cruz said. Joe Nichols, an IOPC representative, said it had funds to recover oil from the sunken tanker, similar to two cases in South Korea. He said the IOPC was consulting with salvage contractors with expertise in the feasibility of pumping out oil from a tanker submerged so far down.

13 September 2006

Representatives of the International Oil Pollution Compensation Fund said they can extend the non specific tanker Solar 1 oil spill victims compensation up to a maximum of $315 million to cover pollution damage, clean up cost, property damage, consequential and economic loss, Provincial Disaster Management Team chief Vicfran Defante said. Its representatives also said Negros Occidental and its threatened local governments have the right to make claims because they have also invested money and other resources in preparation for the oil spill threat, Defante said. Defante said the assurance of compensation was made at a workshop conducted by Petron and the IOPC represented by Joe Nichols, Patrick Joseph and the Ship-owners Protection Limited represented by David Rees in Iloilo City. Defante said the IOPC Fund was established as a result of the International Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage in 1992, of which the Philippines is a member.

13 September 2006

The island province of Guimaras will be filing criminal charges against officials of Petron Corp. and the owners of Sunshine Maritime Development Corp.for the oil spill which has devastated a large portion of the island’s offshore areas. Sunshine Maritime is the owner and operator of non-specific tanker Solar 1, while Petron Corp is the owner of the close to 2.0 million litres of bunker fuel carried by the vessel. Guimaras Governor JC Rahman Nava said that officials of the two companies will be brought to court for violating the country’s anti-pollution laws. Earlier, the Department of Justice had cleared Petron Corp., which is partly owned by the government, of criminal liability in the oil spill. This has not deterred the Guimaras provincial government which wants Petron officials be made answerable for the oil spill. The spill has damaged fishing grounds, marine reserves and beach resorts in a region being developed as a tourist destination. The provincial government said about 26,000 people who depend on fishing have been affected. Petron, on the other hand, has maintained that it cannot be made liable for the accident as it is a mere owner of the cargo carried by the tanker. As such, it has no control over how the vessel is operated.

17 August 2006 Westwood Anette (Bahamas)

It has been two weeks since bulker with container capacity Westwood Anette spewed almost 30,000 litres of bunker fuel into Howe Sound near Squamish causing an environmental nightmare. But it appears the company involved is doing all it can to clean it up. While the clean up continues, Environment Minister Barry Penner says the cost, which will be picked up by the company that owns the barge, has already reached tens of thousands of dollars, and is expected to grow significantly. The cost of all remediation work to clean the estuary will also be sent to the company, Gearbulk Holding Ltd. Dozens of birds were soaked with bunker fuel in the spill but Penner says it’s unclear if any of the affected wildlife has died.

22 August 2006

Understand from the representatives of bulker with container capacity Westwood Anette that the vessel sailed from Squamish last week. Repairs had been carried out on site to classification requirements. As of August 9, two-thirds of the oil spill had been contained or removed by a crew of approximately 40 personnel from Burrard Clean Operations, who had been hired by the vessel’s owners. According to a District of Squamish oil spill report, dated August 16, there was minimal mobile oil in the estuary foreshore and marsh areas, and efforts were ongoing to separate oil from the foreshore and beach sediment in the areas just to the north of the Squamish Terminals. Cleaning of the leading edge of the wharf and bumpers was almost complete, and attention was being turned to the area under the dock. Oiled booms were being removed from the water and replaced with clean booms in a smaller pattern. The vessel’s owners have established a compensation claim procedure for the incident.

23 August 2006

Understand from the Squamish Oil Spill clean-up crew. that 90 per cent of the oil spilled from bulker with container capacity Westwood Anette was contained within the first week. Local waterways are now open to the public, and the cleanup crew are concentrating on isolated spots where the oil has sunk to the bottom and beneath the beach surface.

22 August 2006 Tarapoa area, Ecuador

State-owned Petroecuador and Chinese consortium Andes Petroleum said today that two of their pipelines in the Amazon region of Ecuador were sabotaged, resulting in a spill of at least 1,000 barrels of oil. Unknown assailants on Sunday (August 20) and yesterday punctured secondary pipelines connecting oil fields to storage tanks in Lago Agrio, Sucumbios province. “We are trying to control the spill but it is raining in this area, which makes it more difficult,” Jaime Crow, a vice president at state oil firm Petroecuador, said. Andes Petroleum issued a statement saying one of its pipelines in the Tarapoa part of the Amazon jungle had been sabotaged. Both companies lost at least 500 barrels of oil in the attacks. Ecuador’s Amazon region has been targeted in the past by protesters who say oil firms do not invest enough of their profits in impoverished local communities.

23 August 2006 Songhua River, China

A tributary of China’s Songhua River, which suffered a major chemical spill last year, has been polluted by an illegal discharge from a chemical company, state media reported today. The Mangniu River, which runs through the north-east Chinese city of Jilin, was polluted by a five-kilometre-long slick of bubbly red water on Monday (Aug 21), the Xinhua news agency said. Preliminary tests indicate that the major pollutant was xylidine, a chemical used in manufacturing dyes and pharmaceuticals. Contact can cause dizziness, headaches and nausea as well as skin and eye irritations. High-level and repeated exposure can harm the liver and kidneys and cause respiratory difficulties and even death. More than 1,000 soldiers and firefighters built a pollution interception dam and two dams with activated carbon to absorb the pollutants, Xinhua said. No pollutants have so far been detected in the Songhua River, Xinhua cited the city’s environmental protection bureau as saying, and the incident was brought under control Wednesday. There was no mention of anyone falling sick. The pollutants were illegally discharged by the Changbaishan Jingxi Chemical Co., Xinhua said. Company personnel responsible for the spill have been detained, it added, without giving details.

24 August 2006

China has contained a chemical spill that threatened water supplies for millions and triggered panic buying of bottled drinking water, state media said today. The pollution occurred in the north-eastern province of Jilin in a tributary of the Songhua River. The Mangniu River was polluted with xylidine by a local chemical company, sending a five-km slick of bubbly, red water downstream, the China Daily said. The government bought in more than 1,000 soldiers and firefighters to stop the pollution drifting, the newspaper said. In Harbin, alarmed residents rushed to shops to stock up on bottled water, the newspaper added, though officials assured people there was no problem.

1 September 2006 Bright Artemis (Singapore)

Crude oil tanker Bright Artemis: Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd today reported that the company conducted an aerial survey to chase spilt oil on August 31, and received a report from oil spill control and response experts who flew on a chartered aircraft. Oil slicks are definitely being diluted and vaporized, and there is little possibility that a large volume of oil will reach neighbouring islands. While vaporization, dissolution, and diffusion of the oil and oily substance can be expected to continue, there still is a slight possibility that oily residue could reach Great Nicobar Island around September 10, if the slicks continue to drift toward east-southeast at their current speed. Three ocean tugs loaded with clean-up equipment and materials sailed Singapore on August 31. They are scheduled to reach the site on September 5. They will be requested to take preventive measures or removing oil slicks when necessary, under the Indian Coast Guard’s instruction, while keep watching of the said oil slick, its movement and status. To liaise with the Indian Coast Guard Local Headquarter in Port Blair, which is also monitoring the area by aircraft, and to organise necessary operations under its guidance, MOL dispatched an Indian Superintendent on Aug 30 from its group ship management company responsible for Bright Artemis. Location of oil slicks acknowledged by aerial survey on August 31: emulsified oil slicks are dotted within a range of about ten miles long and two miles wide toward the southwest. The northeastern edge of the area is at lat 07 26N, long 91 47E.

10 September 2006 Lianxing, Hunan Province, China

A leak of an arsenic compound from a waste tank at a chemical plant in central China poisoned the drinking water of 80,000 people, with authorities today issuing urgent warnings. The people of Chengguang in the district of Yueyang in Hunan province were warned not to drink water from the tap. A plant employee said: “Many people are buying large quantities of drinking water from shops. Others are going to stay with people they know in neighbouring villages who have their own wells.” Restaurants were empty as people were concerned about how safe the water was. The authorities sent 18 fire engines to the area to deliver fresh water to residents, China’s official Xinhua news agency reported. There were “sufficient” water supplies for everyone, an employee of Yueyang Information Bureau said. The pollution by arsenide, a compound of arsenic, was discovered Friday (September 8) during a routine inspection of the water quality in the Xinqiang River, Yueyang’s Environment Agency said. “We found elevated levels,” the agency said. Xinhua said the levels were 10 times the permitted standard. The authorities sounded the alarm and put an emergency plan into action. The Tieshan reservoir further upstream has been releasing water since yesterday to dilute the poison and increase the flow speed of the river. The authorities have permitted the additional use of groundwater, Xinhua reported. The cause of the spill was a chemical plant 50 kilometres upstream in Linxiang which was shut down following the leak in its waste tank. Xinhua said that arsenide was highly poisonous and that it could cause illness, vomiting, stomach pains and muscle cramps and could lead to coma and death in serious cases of poisoning. Longterm arsenide exposure leads to liver damage and cancer of the kidneys, lungs and skin. Schools were temporarily closed and the children sent home, people in the affected area said.