2Go Group hires divers, experts to manage oil spill from ship collision

(Updated 5:38 p.m.) 2Go Group Inc. hired experts and divers to help assess and manage the oil spill from its sunken vessel M/V Saint Thomas Aquinas 1 after it collided with cargo ship M/V Sulpicio Express 7 off Talisay, Cebu Friday night, the shipping and logistics company said Monday.

 

"Alongside 2GO Group’s ongoing search and rescue operations, the company is also addressing and containing the oil spill coming from the sunken M/V St. Thomas Aquinas by flying in global oil spill experts to professionally handle the situation in the Lawis Ledge in Talisay, Cebu as part of the company’s commitment to the environment." 

 

It is also flying in four Japanese technical divers to augment its own complement and local divers from the Philippine Navy and the Coast Guard.

 

"This Japanese salvage master has helped in massive global oil spills. In addition, an expert from the International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation Limited (ITOPF) will also be flying in to Cebu to help assess the situation," 2Go said.

On Sunday, an oil spill believed to have come from sunken vessel of 2GO Shipping has reached the shore of Cordova town in Cebu. 

 

Based on information from Philippine Coast Guard vice commandant for operations Rear Admiral Luis Tuason Jr., the ship was loaded with 120,000 liters of bunker oil, 20,000 liters of lube oil, and 20,000 liters of Diesel.

 

Prior the incident, 2Go Group said it deployed on August 17 — a day after the ship sank — two tugboats from Malayan Towage Corp. at the site to contain an anticipated oil spill.

 

"One of the tugboats is properly equipped with machineries, materials and supplies against oil spills such as the 400 meter oil spill boom, including oil skimmer, solvent boom pads to absorb oils from the water surface, four bales of booms and pads and drums of chemical dispersants," it said.

 

As of 8:45 a.m. Monday, the death toll from the collision of two vessels was at 42 while 78 people were still missing.

 

The 40-year-old St. Thomas of Aquinas, bound for Cebu, was carrying 870 people, of which 750 people were rescued by fishing boats, Reuters reported.

 

2Go Group said its vessel also carried mostly agricultural products from Mindanao, since the vessel came from Surigao and Nasipit port, and no cargo was marked as “Dangerous Goods.”

 

Sulpicio Express 7 is owned by Philippine Span Asia Carrier Corp., formerly Sulpicio Lines Inc., which owned the M/V Dona Paz which collided with a tanker in the Sibuyan Sea in December 1987, killing 4,375 passengers and 11 of the tanker's 13-man crew. — Danessa Rivera/VS, GMA News