Oil recovery opns on Solar 1 starts today
Oil recovery ship, Allied Shield will drill into the Solar 1's hull today, signaling the start of the actual offloading operations that is hoped to end the months-long environmental tragedy.
The operation will be conducted 24 hours a day.
In case the operation goes haywire, the Philippine Coast Guard has set in place measures to contain the spread of oil.
Presently, streaks of oil continue to leak out of the tanker's hatches.
Captain Luis Tuason Jr., PCG district commander for Region VI, told The News Today yesterday that the Allied Shield had just finished doing its 'preliminaries' to the actual offloading.
The Allied Shield sent down its remote-operated vehicles to determine the condition of the Solar 1, observe its movement, and look for suitable drilling area. Technical experts also took temperature readings of the water, Tuason said.
Allied Shield arrived at the Bacolod Reclamation Port from Singapore Saturday night. It left for Guimaras Sunday noon. It is expected to steam back to port in seven to 10 days or until the seven ISO tanks shall have been filled to capacity.
PCG vessel, BRP Nueva Viscaya is at the spill site providing security, Tuason said. Two tugboats hired by Sunshine Maritime Development Corporation, the owner of Solar 1, are also on the area to provide assistance for the operation.
Tuason said that of the tanker's ten compartments, all but one still have bunker oil. He estimates that only 275,000 of the more than two million liters on board Solar 1 have leaked out into the surface.
Tuason explained that the Allied Shield will drill holes into the tanker's hull and pump in seawater. Water will dislodge the oil out into a huge steel container called 'shuttle.' Once the shuttle is ¾ full, the Allied Shield will haul it into the surface and transfer the oil recovered into ISO tanks.
They will not fill the shuttle to full capacity so that in case it tilts, only ¾ of its 26,000-liter capacity will leak out into the surface, Tuason said.
“This is part of our precautionary measures,” he pointed out.
Authorities and marine experts estimate that it will take Allied Shield 20-30 days to empty Solar 1's compartments of bunker oil.