An oil tanker carrying nearly 400,000 gallons of fuel has capsized and sunk off the coast of the Philippines, as responders rush to prevent a spill from spreading through the waters of Manila Bay.
Massive waves brought on by typhoon rainfall reportedly sank the MT Terra Nova tanker on July 25, killing one crew member, with 16 others rescued. Now, a coast guard spokesperson tells the Associated Press that there are concerns that the spill — which extended more than two miles by mid-morning — could reach the nearby shore of Manila, the capital of the Philippines, and home to nearly 15 million people.
“We are racing against time, and we will try to do our best to contain the fuel so it will no longer leak out,” Coast Guard rear admiral Armando Balilo said in a news conference.
Because the tanker sank at a shallow depth of 111 feet, Balilo says that special ships could potentially siphon off the fuel oil from the tanks, a delicate operation that would take roughly a week to complete. That said, he also did not clarify whether the tanker has been found on the seafloor yet, or comment on the specific amount of fuel that has spilled out.
Balilo likened the situation to the sinking of an oil tanker carrying 210,000 gallons of fuel off the coast of the Central Philippines in March 2023. The ensuing spill took roughly three months to fully contain, and it damaged surrounding coral reefs, spread to six provinces, and significantly impacted the local fishing and beach resort industries.
