Offloading of oil from Solar 1 to start in six weeks
The International Oil Pollution Compensation (IOPC) has committed to facilitate the offloading of the remaining oil from the sunken tanker Solar 1, Governor JC Rahman Nava said on Tuesday.
The IOPC, which is a worldwide group of oil refiners, will be the one to look for a company that could siphon the oil from Solar 1, as well as pay for it, Nava added.
"They know what is to be done," he stressed. Petron Corporation, which chartered the ill-fated tanker to transport two million liters of oil to Zamboanga when it sank in August 11, is a member of the IOPC.
The government would not have to shoulder the expenses for the offloading of the oil as the IOPC has already given its commitment, the governer said. He said that it would take six weeks to mobilize the equipment needed for the offloading of the remaining bunker fuel.
Nava said that siphoning the oil is the 'first attempt' at dealing a solution to the country's worst oil spill, which has affected coastal communities in the provinces of Guimaras, Iloilo and Negros Occidental.
Philippine Coast Guard on scene commander Harold Jarder said that offloading the oil from a sunken tanker is very complex and delicate. However, the actual siphoning of the oil will not take much time, as powerful pumps are used. What takes times usually is the mobilization and the deployment of the equipment.
Either this week or next week, a team of experts is due to arrive in Guimaras to assess the situation preparatory to the offloading of the industrial oil, Nava said.
The tanker is now buried in under 600 meters of water about 16 nautical miles off the southern coast of Guimaras. It is still leaking oil, but not as much as in the first weeks of the tragedy, the PCG observed.
Nava welcomed the decision to offload the remaining oil, albeit not entirely happy with the development.
It's a welcome development, but we don't have much choice, he said. At least I'm thankful that we have IOPC which has committed to siphon the oil, he added.