President Arroyo Urge Sea Lanes for Tankers
President Arroyo has ordered the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) to identify "dedicated sea lanes" for tankers carrying oil and other hazardous chemicals to keep them away from "ecologically sensitive areas" and areas providing tourism and other livelihood opportunities, Manila Bulletin reported. Arroyo issued the directive in her second National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) meeting on August 28 in Guimaras where she monitored the ongoing efforts to clean up and rehabilitate areas polluted by spilt oil from the sunken MT Solar I tanker. She will return to Guimaras on September 6 to convene another NDCC meeting during which the PCG will present its proposed dedicated sea lanes for tankers carrying oil and other chemicals.
Oil Continues to Leak from Solar 1
The team of Japanese experts who flew into the country to help assess the the damage caused by the sinking of the M/T Solar 1 and the resulting oil spill said oil continues to leak out from the tanker, a statement from the Japanese embassy said Tuesday. In Guimaras, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ordered Transportation and Communications Secretary Leandro Mendoza to conduct a full-blown inquiry into the August 11 sinking, which has led to widespread ecological damage and driven away tourists from the resorts of the island province. After a week of operations, the four-man Japan Disaster Relief Team recommended the continued and periodic aerial survey of the affected area to monitor any sudden changes in the amount of oil coming out of the tanker.
DoTC Forms Team to Conduct Probe on Oil Spill
On recommendations of Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) commandant Vice Admiral Arthur N. Gosingan, Transportation and Communications Secretary Leandro P. Mendoza formed yesterday a national board of marine inquiry (BMI) to conduct a thorough fact-finding investigation on the oil spill off Guimaras Island in Western Visayas — so far the biggest ever reported environmental disaster in the country. In a press conference held at the PCG headquarters in Port Area, Manila, Gosingan said the creation of the national BMI elevated from a special board of marine inquiry (SBMI) the status of the probe body. Mendoza named Coast Guard deputy commandant Rear Admiral Danilo A. Abinoja as the national BMI chairman.
Search Still On For Survivors Of Philippine Ferry Disaster
Rescuers continued their search for passengers of the Philippine ship MV Asia South Korea last week, after it sank in the Visayan Sea before dawn on Dec. 23, officials said. The death toll from the disaster in the central Philippines had risen to 41, they said. The National Disaster Coordinating Council said officials were still verifying the number of survivors, which was most recently reported to be 711. The 27-year-old ship, owned by Cebu-based Trans-Asia Shipping, sank in rough seas off Bantayan Island, 300 miles southeast of Manila, while on a 12-hour voyage from the central Philippine city of Cebu to the island of Iloilo. Survivors said they heard an explosion before the vessel went down in rough seas.…
