Few oil left inside vessel's tanks
Solar 1 layout as of March 27, 2007
Last year's sinking of the MT Solar I caused the spilling of at least 1.6 million liters of bunker based on the remaining cargo found in an ongoing oil recovery operation, said the spokesperson of the regional Task Force Solar I Oil Spill (TF SOS).
The amount officially makes the August 11, 2006 oil spill the worst in the country's history followed by the December 2005 oil spill off Semirara Island which involved more than 300,000 liters of bunker fuel.
Presidential Assistant for Western Visayas and TF SOS head Rafael Coscolluela said minimal amount of bunker fuel was found inside the wreck of the Solar I lying 639 meters underwater 9 miles south of the island-province of Guimaras.
"It appears that most of the oil was already released during the height of the oil spill," Coscolluela said in a telephone interview.
Solar I was carrying 2.1 million liters of oil when it sank amid stormy weather. Previous Coast Guard estimates on the remaining bunker fuel left inside Solar I ranged from 250,000 liters to 300,000 liters.
The oil spill had affected 27 villages in the towns of Nueva Valencia, Sibunag, San Lorenzo, Jordan and Buenavista in Guimaras and in the towns of Sara, Concepcion and Oton in Iloilo. It also reached the coastal villages of Iloilo City.
The spill had affected 6,156 families or 30,531 persons mostly fisherfolks who lost their livelihood. The island's rich marine resources were also devastated with around 239 km of coastline, 15.8 sq km of coral reefs, 105 ha of mangroves and 42 ha of seaweeds damaged or destroyed.
Hundreds of residents were also stricken with pulmonary diseases at the height of the oil spill and were evacuated from their homes after the oil sludge reach their shores and homes.
Coscolluela said the eight cargo tanks accessed by the operation had minimal amount of bunker fuel or were empty.
The total amount of oil recovered 16 days into the operation reached only around 5 cubic meters. The amount is not even enough to fill up the shuttle that transports the recovered oil underwater to the Allied Shield ship on the surface hovering over the site of the wreck, said Coscolluela.
Solar I has 10 cargo compartments with five on each side of the ship. Each compartment has an average capacity of 200,000 liters or a total of 2.195 million liters.
A progress report from Allied Shield provided by Petron said that no oil was found in the tanker's port tank no. 2 and starboard tank no. 2 and starboard tank no. 5. This was the same with starboard tank no. 4. Minimal amount of oil was found in port tank no. 3 and port tank no. 5.
"There are only two compartments left and even if they are full, they would only yield a maximum of 400,000 liters," said Coscolluela.