'Solar 1 offloading operations won't be to soon'
Operations to offload the remaining oil from the sunken tanker lying on the seabed off Guimaras waters will not commence too soon, said Solar 1 oil spill incident commander Rafael Coscolluela.
He clarified in Tuesday's regular press briefing that the executive committee of the International Oil Pollution Compensation (IOPC), a international group of oil refiners which committed to handle the siphoning of oil from Solar 1, is scheduled to meet in London on October 23 to discuss technical, financial and legal matters.
Only then can they contract a salvaging company that would remotely offload the remaining bunker fuel in the ten containers of Solar 1, which sank in choppy seas last August 1, triggering an oil spill that affected over 41,000 people from Guimaras. Shoreline operations in the affected areas are now on their 36th day, according to Petron Foundation's Malou Erni.
Coscolluela said that once IOPC has entered into a contract with a salvaging company, it would take about four to six weeks to deploy the offloading vessels and equipment.
Another two months would lapse before all the remaining bunker oil is sucked out of Solar 1, he added.
Although it is already certain that the oil will be offloaded, what remains uncertain is when it would start and who will conduct the operations, Coscolluela said.
"We cannot rush the offloading. We have to plan and prepare, and take the proper precautions. Safety and reduced risk is important," he stressed.
According to Philippine Coast Guard commander for Western Visayas, Captain Luis Tuason Jr., there are only four companies capable of offloading the oil. He, however, declined naming these foreign companies.
But it is likely possible that all of these companies will be involved in the actual offloading operations as when one does not have the equipment that one company has, Tuason explained.
Meanwhile, the PCG is also doing its own preparations in line with the offloading operations.
Tuason said that they will be laying out ocean spill booms in case the offloading operations go awry as when the hoses suctioning the oil spring a leak.
But as far as Solar 1 is concerned, Tuason said that it is stable, and that they can handle the small amount of oil streaking from the sunken ship.
"The only enemy (of offloading operations) is the weather and the strong current," he said.