From Ducky Paredes

An excerpt

TWO sinkings of marine vessels hired by Petron has to be coming from someone’s total incompetence. When it hired the vessel “Solar” to bring a cargo of oil products to Mindanao, that was incompetence since there are a lot of very good vessels that carry oil products for all the oil companies, these vessels were, of course, available to Petron. Yet, it chose a shipping company that hasn’t had a long history of taking on oil as cargo and a second-hand refitted single-hull vessel when there are already vessels available in this country with double hulls.

Why did Petron do this? Are they saving money by going to second-rate boats and shipping companies? Then, even against the objections of Capt. Luis Tuason Jr. the Western Visayas commander of the Philippine Coast Guard, they went ahead with using a barge. After the sinking of the barge “Ras” with 600 tons of oil debris off the Coast of Misamis Occidental, Tuason said: “Yan na nga ang sinasabi ko noong una that a barge is not fit to carry hazardous cargo in bulk.

Barges have a different design compared to vessels that are more ideal to carry dangerous loads such as oil debris.”

No accident here. Incompetence! That is what it has to be.

(The entire column at Malaya, Nov. 23, 2006.)

Sunken debris barge: Coast Guard warned presidential adviser

• Environmentalists, scientists sound alarm

By Nestor P. Burgos Jr.
Inquirer, Nov. 22, 2006

ILOILO CITY – The Philippine Coast Guard said Wednesday it had opposed the use of barges to transport sludge and other oil-soaked debris from Guimaras because of the risks involved but it was overruled by the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) and the regional inter-agency task force created to oversee cleanup operations in the wake of the country’s largest oil-spill disaster.

Captain Luis Tuason, Coast Guard commander in Western Visayas, said they wrote letters to Presidential Assistant for Western Visayas Rafael Coscolluela, head of the Task Force Solar I Oil Spill, and Marina about the risks in transporting the debris by barges.

(Read on…Letters to Lito)

Oil booms from sunken barge drift to Misamis Occidental City

By Grace Cantal-Albasin
Inquirer, Nov. 22, 2006

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – (UPDATE) Three plastic bags full of oil-soaked booms have been found floating off Oroquieta City, some 30 kilometers from Plaridel town, Misamis Occidental province where a barge carrying debris from the Guimaras oil spill sank on Monday evening, officials said Wednesday.

The booms were spotted even as local authorities had deployed teams to Plaridel to see if they could retrieve the barge which had sunk 600 feet into the sea.

The booms, measuring three meters long and six inches wide, were made up of materials similar to those of baby diapers.

Authorities said the discovery of the floating booms could indicate that the ropes holding the sacks of debris in the sunken barge may have come loose.

The barge, Ras – carrying 56,649 sacks of sludge and debris weighing a total of 750 metric tons – was being towed to the Holcim cement plant in Lugait, Misamis Oriental when it sank two miles off Polo Point in Plaridel town. The sludge and debris were supposed to be incinerated at the plant.

(Click Oil booms for the rest of the story.)

Arroyo orders probe of barge sinking (Uhm…yeah, right)

By Aurea Calica
The Philippine Star 11/23/2006

PRESIDENT Arroyo ordered yesterday a full investigation into the sinking of a barge carrying debris from the oil spill off Guimaras island.

“The President has expressed concern about this unfortunate incident and has tasked the agencies concerned led by Task Force Guimaras to get to the bottom of it,” Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said.

He said Mrs. Arroyo also asked authorities to map out strategies to minimize any adverse impact on the environment and the communities affected by the sinking of the barge Ras.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said the debris was not expected to cause as much damage as the oil spill, but added that authorities would look into the incident.

The Ras was being towed by the tugboat Vega when huge waves reportedly sank the vessel off the town of Plaridel in Misamis Occidental late Monday.

The barge was carrying 630 tons of rock and sand in 59,000 sacks, the oil firm Petron Corp. said in a statement released to media yesterday.

Petron had contracted the barge to ship debris from cleanup operations in Guimaras after the chemical tanker Solar I sank off the Guimaras coast on Aug. 11. The tanker was carrying 500,000 gallons of industrial fuel oil.

Petron owned the fuel that was spilled in August and had contracted Harbor Star, operator of the Ras, to ship oil-contaminated debris from Guimaras.

The barge Ras was contracted to ship the oil-contaminated debris from Guimaras to a Misamis Occidental port for transport to the Holcim Cement plant in Lugait, Misamis Oriental, where it was to be used as fuel, plant manager Bobby Sajonia said.

In a separate statement, Harbor Star said it was “collectively contracted” by the P&I Club, International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation Ltd. and the International Oil Spill Compensation fund.

“Regardless of who owns the barge or who chartered it, Petron personnel are already in the field to do what is needed and minimize any impact that may arise from the incident,” Petron health, safety and environment manager Carlos Tan said in Petron’s statement.

“We wish to assure the local populace that the used sorbent booms are designed to keep the absorbent oil in,” Tan added. “In fact, not even traces of oily sheen were detected as the sorbent booms were recovered.”

He also said Petron personnel are conducting surveys along the eastern Misamis Occidental shoreline to assess if there is any potential damage. Tan added that the trace amount of oil contained in the cargo has been “weathering for three months and is highly unlikely to pose a danger to communities, shorelines or marine life.”

Petron Corp. said it has already mobilized Waterborne Industry Spill Response (WISE) equipment to the area where the Ras sank to “prepare for any contingency.”

The oil firm also said it is closely coordinating with provincial and local officials in connection with the incident.

Tens of thousands of gallons of oil spilled into the sea after the M/T Solar I sank, destroying a marine reserve, local fishing grounds and coating stretches of coastline with black sludge.

Two of the Ras’ crew members are still missing and are presumed dead.

“The composition of the debris carried by the barge is mostly sand and rocks with some traces of oil,” Petron said in its statement.

A maritime inquiry blamed the accident last August on overloading and inadequate training of the ship’s captain, Norberto Aguro.

Backlash

Meanwhile, environmentalists and fisher-folk organizations sought the termination of private interests in Petron Corp. and a government takeover of the operations of Petron Corp. because of the Ras’ mishap.

The Pamalakaya said that the sinking of the barge Ras merits the disqualification of the corporate interests controlling Petron, as the recent “environmental tragedy is a lucid testimony” that the oil company “is a huge environmental destroyer.”

“The latest disaster perpetrated by super profit-driven Petron merits the disqualification of corporate interests controlling the oil company and the subsequent nationalization and state takeover,” said Pamalakaya chairman Fernando Hicap.

“Its private owners, in cahoots with the officials of the corrupt Macapagal-Arroyo administration, must be grounded from operating Petron and must be haled to court for the extreme damage they created against the environment and socio-economic welfare of the people. Petron is an enemy of the environment and the people,”Hicap said.

Environmental groups fear that the sinking of the Ras will result in another wave of destruction of marine resources in Misamis Occidental and nearby provinces.

Environmental activist organization Kalikasan-Peoples’ Network for the Environment said that the release of the oil debris into the sea may create adverse and long-term health and environmental impact.

“Petron and the government are trying to condition the public into believing that the sunken oil sludge will have no significant effect on the marine ecosystem and public health. This is a misleading and dangerous assumption,” Kalikasan national coordinator Clemente Bautista said.

“Eventually, if no urgent action is taken to recover and remove the sunken sludge, the debris and oil sludge… It is inevitable that the sunken oil sludge will eventually degrade and bio-accumulate in the systems of marine species, such as fish,” Bautista said. “Definitely this will have a long-term domino effect, considering that fishing is also a major livelihood and industry in Misamis Occidental.”

Bautista said the oily debris comes from the same toxic oil sludge that washed up on Guimaras and contains similar toxic contaminants from industrial oil that may cause cancer, leukemia and congenital anomalies of unborn babies in the long-term.

“Remember that even the oil sludge produced afterwards had to be cleaned up by workers wearing various (types of) protective gear, such as full-face masks with air-purifying respirators, chemical-resistant clothing, including coveralls, gloves and steel-toed boots with boot covers,” he said.

Meanwhile, Task Force Macajalar, an environment group based in Misamis Occidental, said Petron should be punished for “its recklessness in handling pollutants from the Guimaras oil spill.”

According to the group, tar balls from the oil spill debris could release noxious substances, like hydrogen sulfide, which pose an adverse effect on the fragile coastal ecosystem in Misamis Occidental.

Task Force Macajalar also said some of the more advanced and successful marine and coastal conservation efforts are located in Misamis Occidental.

Polluting fishing grounds

In Iligan City, environmental groups and the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) in Northern Mindanao say that the Guimaras oil spill debris which was loaded on the now-sunken barge Ras will pollute the fishing grounds in Panguil Bay.

This assessment was made by Partido Kalikasan and Task Force Macajalar after Petron released its latest statement.

Task Force Macajalar representative and lawyer Manuel Ravanera said that their group will conduct an independent investigation into the effects of the release of the oil spill debris on Panguil Bay.

Panguil Bay is the fishing ground of fishermen from the coastal areas of Lanao del Norte, Misamis Occidental, parts of Zamboanga del Norte and the cities of Ozamiz and Iligan.

Meanwhile, the OCD in Region 10 said the ecosystem in Panguil Bay will be affected by the oil spill debris, since this debris is still a pollutant.

However, OCD regional director Salvador Estudillo said their office is still gathering more data on the incident.

The OCD regional operations office said that fishermen along the coast of Lanao del Norte, Misamis Occidental, Iligan and Ozamiz who depend on Panguil Bay for their livelihood are “drastically affected.” — With Katherine Adraneda, Lino dela Cruz

Oil spill compensation to start next month – pollution fund

By Nestor P. Burgos Jr.
Inquirer, Nov. 22, 2006

ILOILO CITY – Residents of the central Philippine island of Guimaras affected by the oil spill may have something to look forward this Christmas.

The International Oil Pollution Compensation (IOPC) Fund hopes to make payments on claims for compensation by next month, IOPC Deputy Director Joe Nichols said.

IOPC representatives will meet with government officials and associations of fishermen of Guimaras this week to discuss the IOPC assessment the claims for compensation submitted by fishermen and other affected residents of the island-province.

The IOPC has received around 13,000 claims, mostly from fishermen who lost their livelihood after the tanker Solar I sank 13 miles southwest of Nueva Valencia on August 11.

The oil spill has affected 5,437 families or 26,740 persons. It also devastated the island’s rich marine life and some beach resorts.

Nichols said the number of claimants was causing some concern for IOPC because they estimated that the affected residents would be between 4,500 and 5,000 only.

But he said they have not rejected any claim even as they have not finished assessing all of them because of the large number.

“We are confident that we have accurate figures of losses they incurred,” Nichols told the Inquirer.

He said the IOPC would base the compensation on the type of fishing method and fishing equipment used.

The IOPC had come up with an average compensation figure to speed up the processing of claims because most claimants did not declare specific amounts.

The IOPC would release the compensation to claimants through individual checks issued through the Land Bank of the Philippines, which has a branch on the island.

Nichols said the IOPC has approved payment of some of the 20 claims made by resort operators.

“We hope to settle bulk of the claims within two to three months,” said Nichols.

‘No plans to recover debris in barge sinking’ – officials

By Joel Guinto
INQ7.net, Nov. 22, 2006

CLAIMING no environmental hazard exists, disaster officials said there are no immediate plans to recover some 600 metric tons of debris recovered in the cleanup of the oil spill that hit Guimaras province that was being ferried by a barge that sank off Misamis Occidental province Monday.

“There are no more toxic substances [in the debris]. They have weathered and dried up under the sun,” Office of Civil Defense deputy administrator Anthony Golez told reporters in Camp Aguinaldo.

“So far, there are no plans to recover [the debris],” he added.

Nonetheless, Golez said the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), has begun a study to ensure that the oil debris would not adversely affect the waters in the area.

He said no oil sheen has been observed on the surface where the Barge Ras sank late Monday night. The barge was on its way to deliver the last batch of oil debris from Guimaras to the Holcim cement plant in Lugait town, Misamis Oriental province.

(For the rest of the story, click No plans.)

Gov’t starts probe of barge sinking, Petron not off hook

WHILE it continued to downplay the impact of its latest environmental debacle, Petron Corp. may still find itself at the center of a government probe into the sinking of a barge carrying some 630 tons of debris from Guimaras Island.

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said Wednesday it will seek documents from Petron and the operator of the barge the oil firm commissioned to bring the debris to northern Mindanao.

“A (Coast Guard) probe team will establish the immediate cause of the incident and it will give results to concerned agencies such as the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina),” Lieutenant Commander Joseph Coyme, PCG spokesman, said in an interview on dzEC radio.

Coyme also said the Coast Guard is now debating ways to recover the sunken barge and prevent another environmental disaster.

The Barge Ras sank late Monday evening some 5.5 km from the shores of Plaridel town in Misamis Occidental.

An assessment team has been sent to the site to see if it is practical to retrieve the sunken barge, Coyme said.

He said it is too early for Petron claim that it is cleared of liability because it was the International Oil Pollution Commission that commissioned the ill-fated barge.

Petron had claimed Tuesday it should not be held liable because it was not the party that commissioned the barge, which sank after being buffeted by strong waves and winds Monday night.

It had insisted that the debris contained “only traces of oil.”

Carlos Tan, Petron public health safety and environment manager, said Tuesday afternoon that the barge was heading for a cement plant in Lugait town in Misamis Oriental when it sank.

Coyme said the Coast Guard will also ask for documents from Harbor Star, operator of the barge that sank Monday night.

“We can determine liability by looking at the contract between the consignee and the operator and carrier,” Coyme said in Filipino.

“We will also see in the investigation if all procedures were followed,” he added.

Extent of damage

However, Coyme said Monday night’s sinking may not bring the same environmental threat as the one caused by the MT Solar I when it sank at Guimaras Strait last August 11.

“Once the debris sinks, it will settle and will not float to the surface,” he said.

Meanwhile, Coyme said the Coast Guard is assessing the situation to see if it will be advisable to retrieve the barge.

The first consideration, he said, is if the barge is still hazardous to navigation, as it sank some 1,800 feet underwater.

Another consideration is the extent of damage to the environment, if refloating it will do more good than harm. The PCG will also determine how re-floating efforts could potentially bother to local fishermen.

(For the rest of the story, click GMANews.TV, Nov. 22, 2006.)

Coast Guard: We told you so…

By Francis Allan L. Angelo
The Guardian Iloilo,
Nov. 22, 2006

THE use of open barges to transport oily debris from Guimaras Island has been a contentious issue for government agencies managing the response to the country’s worst oil spill.

In fact, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) in Western Visayas already warned disaster managers that barges pose the risk of a second oil spill if the vessel fails to meet specifications and designs set by concerned agencies.

The sinking of Barge Ras, which was carrying more than 600 metric tons of oily debris, off the coast of Plaridel, Misamis Occidental Monday evening somehow proved the PCG’s contention.

“Yan na nga ang sinasabi ko noong una that a barge is not fit to carry hazardous cargo in bulk. Barges have a different design compared to vessels that are more ideal to carry dangerous loads such as oil debris,” said Capt. Luis Tuason Jr. PCG-Western Visayas commander.

The Coast Guard tried to convince Task Force Solar Oil Spill, the inter-agency body dealing with the Guimaras oil spill, on the hazards of using barges in carrying oily debris from Guimaras but to no avail.

Tuason said the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) amended regulations on the issuance of special permits to transport hazardous cargos in bulk, thus allowing the use of barges to ship out the debris from Guimaras.

Tuason said he sent a letter to Presidential assistant for Region 6 Rafael Lito Coscolluela and Marina expressing his opposition to the said move.

“I told them that we will respect the Marina’s decision to clear the barges to carry the oily debris but as far as my opinion is concerned, it is not right,” Tuason said.

The PCG chief said it is safer to carry hazardous cargo in sealed packages loaded on closed vessels such as tankers.

In the case of Guimaras, the debris is contained in sacks and covered with tarpaulins.

What surprised Tuason is when Marina asked them to inspect the barges after issuing the special permits. He said the inspection should have been conducted before the permit was given.

“Parang hugas kamay yun (It’s like washing their hands of the responsibility). We already told them that we are not amenable to using the barges but they still want us to inspect the vessels before going to Lugait in Misamis Oriental. And they want the inspection conducted after the permit has been issued,” Tuason said.

Editorial – Another Petron-hired vessel sinks

What kind of karma is Petron confronting? After the disastrous sinking of the tanker it had hired to transport bunker fuel sank off the coast of Guimaras on August 11, thousands – maybe a million by now – liters of oil leaked form the sunken vessel, causing untold damage not only to marine life in that island province, but also to the livelihood of residents.

Petron had then hired the MT Solar I to carry two million liters of bunker fuel. When it developed a leak and sank, the spill moved towards the island, and other neighboring towns, forcing residents of coastal areas to evacuate, and giving local officials the burden of sheltering and feeding them.

The disaster caused national concern, with people from all over the country trying their best to help in what proved to be feeble ways of stopping the wicked spill from spreading.

Petron, the company that owned the oil and the one that had hired the tanker, came in a little late in the day and gave some assistance to the victims, but, until now has failed to comply with what local officials have been agitating for – to have the leaking vessel removed, or to pump out what oil still remained in its hold in order to prevent further degradation of the waters in Guimaras and surrounding areas.

There have been glib announcements and promises about compliance which, for some reason or another, have not materialized yet.

And then, on Monday night, a barge said to be carrying 59,000 sacks of debris collected from the oil-covered areas of Guimaras, also sank near the town of Plaridel in Misamis Occidental. Now it is the people in that province, specifically that town, who are apprehensive about what the sinking could mean to their environment.

Assurances from Petron officials that no oily sheen or debris has, so far, been noted on the surface of the Misamis waters are small comfort to the people to the officials there who are aware of what harm the presence of those oily materials in their sea could pose.

Were the two sinking incidents caused by karma, or is Petron just negligent in the matter of choosing the vessels they hire for such sensitive shipments? (Visayan Daily Star, Nov. 22, 2006)

Bunker fuel siphoning reset to February

BY NESTOR BURGOS JR.
Visayan Daily Star
Nov. 22, 2006

ILOILO CITY – The operation to pump out the remaining oil from the sunken tanker Solar I will start in February, not January as earlier announced, and is expected to last for 20 days, an official of the International Oil Pollution Compensation Fund said.

IOPC Deputy Director Joe Nichols said the start of the operation has been moved back to allow the construction of specific equipment to be used in the operation.

The Shipowners’ Protection Limited, the insurance firm of the sunken tanker Solar I, and the IOPC has contracted the underwater construction company, Sonsub, to undertake the operation.

Nichols said they chose Sonsub over two other companies because it had the experience in removing oil from wreckage in deep sea. The Solar I sits 640 meters deep on the seabed.

Sonsub expects to finish the work in 20 days, said Nichols.

The operation will involve the use of a dynamic-positioning vessel that can maintain its position without anchoring while on the waters above the wreck.

Remote operated vessels (ROVs) will drill two holes on the deck of the sunken tanker to allow the water to come in through one hole and for the remaining oil to come out from the other hole.

The oil will be suctioned by “hoppers,”sealed containers shaped like inverted buckets, and transferred to tanks on board the dynamic-positioning vessel when the containers float on the surface.

The operation is estimated to cost between $8 to 12 million. The actual cost would depend on the duration of the operation and the amount of fuel left inside the tanker. The Coast Guard estimates that around 300,000 liters of bunker fuel have leaked from the total cargo of 2 million liters.

Nichols and representatives of Shipowners’ Protection Limited and Sonsub will meet with Coast Guard officials here to discuss the details and method and operation and to get their approval.

The Coast Guard will provide assistance to the operation including pollution-response capability on stand by in case anything goes wrong with the operation, said Nichols.

Ships with toxic substances to be banned from Misamis Occidental?

SEA vessels with toxic substances may soon be banned from territorial waters of Misamis Occidental after a barge carrying oil debris sank in waters off Plaridel town Monday night.

The barge Ras, which was contracted by oil giant Petron Corporation and the International Oil Pollution Commission, was bound for a factory owned by Holcim Cement in Lugait, Misamis Oriental and was carrying about 59,000 sacks of oily debris when it encountered strong waves and spilled about 600 tons debris into the sea.

Provincial governor Leo Ocampos told Magandang Umaga Pilipinas on Wednesday the provincial board will prepare an ordinance that will prohibit ships with toxic substances from entering provincial waters.

“Gagawa kami ng ordinansya na yung municipal waters sa Misamis Occidental ay restricted for maritime navigation sa mga barko na may kargang toxic materials katulad ng mga debris,” [We will come up with an ordinance so that municipal waters of Misamis Occidental will be restricted for maritime navigation to ships carrying toxic materials like debris] Ocampos said.

Ocampos added that they will appeal to Petron to remove the toxins spilled into the sea.

On August 11, the MV Solar 1, another ship chartered by Petron, sank off waters in Guimaras affecting over 200 kilometers of coastline, including beaches and mangroves.

Ironically, the Ras was carrying oil debris from the Solar 1 when it sank. (ABS-CBN News, Nov. 22, 2006)

Petron’s latest caper

Front page of BusinessMirror, Nov. 22, 2006

In freakish turn of events, toxic shipment moves from Iloilo to Misamis Oriental
BARGE WITH OIL SPILL DEBRIS SINKS

By VG Cabuag
Reporter

A BARGE carrying the oil-soaked debris from the sinking of an oil tanker off Guimaras on August 11 has also sunk, spilling the same toxic material all over the sea again, this time about 5 kilometers off Misamis Oriental on the evening of Monday. Again, the rough sea was blamed for the sinking.

“We have not heard about any casualties, but usually an oil barge only carries one to two people,” said Arnie Santiago, officer in charge of the Maritime Industry Authority’s Enforcement Office. There were reports Rear Adm. Danilo Abinoja had said the two crewmen were able to escape the sinking and had survived.

Initial reports said the oil barge “Ras,” being towed by Tugboat Vega, was carrying 630 metric tons of debris in about 59,000 sacks or about 600 tons of the debris—mostly rice straw, human hair, and wood shavings. And because they are in sacks, Santiago said they do not expect the incident to become a major disaster as that of the sinking of MT Solar 1, which was carrying 2.2 million liters of bunker fuel when it sank.

The debris, he said, was being shipped to the Holcim Philippines Inc.’s Lugait cement plant in Misamis Oriental where it will be used as an alternative fuel and raw material in cement production.

Santiago said the sacked debris will only cause “rainbow ripples” in the water when spilled and would evaporate immediately. “And with the (bad) weather in the area, I don’t think the sinking will cause major damage to the communities since if ever there’ll be oil, it will scatter immediately.”

He added the sacks “would sink to the bottom of the sea and will likely leave only traces of oil, like thin filaments that would also evaporate.”

The tugboat Vega has remained in the area and is monitoring the situation, according to Petron.

Defense Secretary and National Disaster Coordinating Council chairman Avelino Cruz has also convened the Taskforce Guimaras to handle this new incident.

Environment department regional executive director Maximo Dichoso has, meanwhile, sent a team led by Director Sabulah Abubakar of the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) to proceed to the area and investigate.

As of 3:20 p.m . Tuesday, he said he had yet to receive a report from the EMB team. “I’ve already dispatched a team there to assess the situation. Hopefully, it’s not worse [than the M/T Solar 1 sinking].”

Misamis Oriental Gov. Loreto Leo Ocampos was reportedly assured by Petron representatives that no leak had been detected from the sunken vessel so far, although he was quoted as saying traces of oil had been seen along the shoreline of Misamis Oriental.

Petron also dispatched a team to the area bringing with them spill booms and oil-sucking equipment. “We are taking charge of the response to this incident. We are already monitoring the area and have mobilized the Waterborne Industry Spill Equipment to deal with any contingency,” said Petron health, safety and environment manager Carlos V. Tan.

When the MT Solar 1, owned by Sunshine Maritime Corp., sank August 11 off Guimaras Island due to rough seas, its cargo of bunker oil contaminated a wide swath displacing 39,000 residents and damaging 220 kilometers of coastline that includes pristine marine reserves.

The ongoing cleanup and rehabilitation of Guimaras, experts say, will take at least 10 years. Floating the sunken tanker has been scheduled for January next year.

The Special Board of Marine Inquiry that investigated the oil spill concluded in September that all parties involved, including government agencies, were guilty of lapses and were liable for the disaster.

Greenpeace campaigner Beau Baconguis said: “Whether this latest incident [the Misamis sinking] is due to gross negligence or plain stupidity, Petron must be held accountable by the Philippine government to the fullest extent of the law. Petron has yet to fully answer for its disastrous oil spill in Guimaras, but here it is again with another environmental disaster in the making. This is truly deplorable, and betrays once again Petron’s serious lack of diligence in ensuring that the company’s operations are safe and secure.” (With J. Mayuga, P. Isla)

Sinking of Petron sludge barge lands RP in world news again

Here’s a compilation of news around the world on the latest Petron caper:

Barge carrying debris from Philippines’ worst oil spill sinks Int’l Herald Tribune

Philippines oil spill barge sinks BBC

Barge with oil spill debris sinks in Philippines Reuters

Barge carrying oil waste sinks in central Philippines Agence France Press

Barge carrying Philippines oil spill debris sinks Australian Broadcasting Corp.

Barge carrying debris from Philippines’ worst oil spill sinks The Hindu

Barge carrying oil-spill debris sinks in central Philippines People’s Daily Online

More fears as barge carrying spill oil sinks Cape Argus

Barge carrying debris from Philippines’ worst oil spill sinks China Post

Barge carrying oil debris sinks while on its way to Misamis Oriental from Guimaras Bayanihan.org

—————————————————————————————————

THANK YOU Petron, for putting the Philippines on the radar of news organizations again! The presidentita must really love you now for wiping out all the good publicity she got from her Apec trip.

Petron officials, of course, are downplaying the whole incident again…they say that the debris won’t cause environmental damage to the waters of Ozamis. That really isn’t the point, is it? The point is, another barge your company contracted sank again! Hello?! Dudes, your barge operations are crap!

Mike Enriquez says: ‘Only in the Philippines!’

TV NEWS on the sinking of another Petron-contracted barge, from GMA 7. For the full report, click 24 ORAS

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Barge full of oil debris sinks off Misamis Occidental

By Lizanilla J. Amarga and Richel V. Umel
Sunstar, Nov. 22, 2006

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY — A barge carrying oil-soaked debris from cleanup efforts in Guimaras sank at around 9 p.m. Monday off a coastal town in Misamis Occidental, the regional Office of Civil Defense (OCD) reported Tuesday.

Misamis Occidental Governor Loreto Ocampos and OCD regional director Salvador Estudillo immediately deployed rescue officers to the affected coastal area to assess the situation and do some “damage control.”

Already, environmental groups Partido Kalikasan and Task Force Macajalar led by lawyer Manuel Ravanera said they will conduct an “independent investigation” on the incident, as it seems to be a “double kill on the environment, first in Guimaras and now in Pangil Bay and nearby areas.”

Petron Health, Safety and Environment Manager Carlos Tan said “they are taking charge of the incident.” Petron hired the barge to ferry debris collected from the oil spill in Guimaras.

He said several teams are monitoring the area and the Waterborne Industry Spill Equipment (Wise) had been mobilized to deal with the contingency.

(For the full story, click Sunstar.)

EDITORIAL – A sorry state

The Philippine Star 11/22/2006

THIS is the state of the Philippine maritime industry: a barge transporting over 600 tons of sludge collected from the waters around Guimaras sank off Misamis Occidental Monday night. The oil debris came from the chemical tanker Solar 1, which sank Aug. 11 with two million liters of bunker fuel off Guimaras, creating the country’s worst oil spill.

That environmental disaster, whose impact will be felt for many years, should have led to a tighter watch on the seaworthiness of the vessels plying an archipelago that is regularly visited by powerful typhoons and heavy monsoon rains. Now we are faced with another barge sinking — according to its owner — in rough seas.

The barge Ras, owned by Harbor Star, was being towed by a tugboat when it went down at 11:10 p.m. Monday about five kilometers northeast of Plaridel town. The barge was carrying the last shipment of debris from the Guimaras oil spill that was to be sent to Holcim Cement for reprocessing into fuel. Oil giant Petron Corp., which had chartered both the Solar 1 and the Ras, downplayed the environmental impact of the sinking of the barge, pointing out that the sludge was packed in sand and contained in sacks that were expected to simply sink to the bottom of the sea without spilling the toxic contents. This remains to be seen.

Investigators will determine whether the sinking was purely an accident or due to violations of maritime safety regulations. Such investigations are conducted after every maritime accident. Yet maritime transportation in this archipelago of 7,100 islands remains risky for both passengers and cargo.

Security precautions have been tightened on ferries since Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiyah terrorists blew up the Superferry 14 near the mouth of Manila Bay on Feb. 27, 2004, leaving over a hundred people dead. Action has been slower in enforcing safety regulations and upgrading maritime fleets to reduce the risks of traveling by sea. The sinking of the Ras should prompt the government to intensify those efforts.