An aerial view of the oil spill in waters off Naujan in the province of Oriental Mindoro. (Photo: AFP/Philippine Coast Guard)Hanoi (VNA) - A Philippine fuel tanker partially sank in the country's waters on February28, authorities said, as they tried to contain a diesel spill stretchingseveral kilometres.
The Princess Empress was carrying 800,000litres of industrial fuel oil from Bataan province, near the capital Manila, tothe central province of Iloilo when its engine overheated, the Philippine CoastGuard said.
An initial investigation showed the vessel drifted towards waters off Balingawan Point onMindoro island due to rough sea conditions until it became half-submerged.
The coast guard said it was monitoring a spill of dieselfuel, which had been powering the vessel, but had not found in the sea anyindustrial fuel oil from the ship's cargo.
Another vessel rescued the 20 crew members on board. Thecoast guard said they were in good physical condition.
The coastguard noted the spill detected near the stricken vessel was 5km long and 500mwide. An oil spill boom would be installed to control the spillage./.
