MT Princess Empress almost half empty – PCG

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 28) – The sunken tanker MT Princess Empress is estimated to have already released close to half of the oil it carried, based on latest computations yet to be validated, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said Tuesday.

Out of over 820,000 liters of industrial oil, the PCG said only around 300,000 to nearly 400,000 liters are remaining. The latest amount is lower compared to their previous projection of 900,000 liters of oil last March 16.

“Ito, bina-validate pa natin, batay ito sa computation at calculation kahapon," PCG Spokesperson Armando Balilo said in an ambush interview. "Para lang may working figure kung paano tayo magre-respond nang maayos doon sa ating operations.”

[Translation: We are still validating this based on the computation and calculation yesterday. Just so we have a working figure on how we will respond properly to our operations.]

The PCG also said the oil spill is not likely to cause major damage to Verde Island nor spread to other towns of mainland Batangas.

Previously, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said the oil slick is expected to continue until end of March.

DENR Secretary Antonia Loyzaga said that as of March 10, oil from the ship is leaking at a rate of 35,000 to 50,000 liters per day.

READ: Leak from sunken oil tanker seen to continue until end-March - DENR