Thousands of litres of oil collected from sunken tanker in the Philippines

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) recovered thousands of litres of oil from a tanker that sank off the Philippines during a typhoon.

The PCG said on August 19 that they have collected around 2,500 litres of fuel from the MT Terranova that capsized off Bataan province in July.

Footage shows the coast guard's BRP Sindangan vessel conducting oil sampling and sea surface monitoring at ground zero, while contracted salvor, Harbor Star Shipping Services Inc, installed a boring machine and began hot tapping operations.

The PCG said in a statement: 'Harbor Star also utilized an extra oil booster pump to enhance the siphoning pump's efficiency. Approximately 2,500 liters of oil were collected on Monday – bringing the total to 10,707 liters of collected oil.'

Siphoning operations were initially expected to start on July 30, but were delayed by two weeks as divers were sealing the tanker's leaking valves with metal caps.

The PCG has downplayed the leak, saying the rate of oil discharge was less than one litre per hour and the resulting oil sheens were 'very thin'.

Meanwhile, the PCG was also preparing for possible oil leaks from two other tankers - MT Jason Bradley and MV Mirola 1 - which sank and ran aground respectively in the same area in July.

The MT Terra Nova sank off Bataan province typhoon Gaemi lashed the Philippines early morning on July 25. One crewman aboard died, while 16 others were rescued.

The Philippine Coast Guard is bracing to contain a major oil spill, as the vessel was reported to have been carrying 1.4 million litres of industrial fuel. In February 2023, the MT Princess Empress tanker carrying 800,000 litres of industrial fuel sank and caused a disastrous oil spill in the Philippines' Oriental Mindoro province.

The spill took three months to contain, destroying swathes of coral reefs and disrupting the livelihoods of thousands of fishermen across at least six provinces.