THE Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) has started laying out oil spill booms around the half-submerged Vietnamese-flagged vessel, VIET HAI STAR, in the vicinity waters off Balabac, Palawan.
It had 4,000 tons of rice on board going to Cagayan de Oro City when the maritime incident occurred on 21 November 2023.
As of 7AM today, 23 November 2023, the PCG response team reported that the vessel was fully flooded due to high tide and rough seas overnight and now settled on a muddy and rocky area of Calandorang Bay in Balabac.
Coast Guard personnel also noticed oil sheens within the vicinity waters, as the subject vessel was carrying 29,000 liters of automotive diesel oil (ADO).
Immediately, the Marine Environmental Protection Unit (MEPU) personnel started laying out oil spill booms to control the incident.
As of press time, the Coast Guard’s Special Operations Group (SOG) divers are conducting an underwater inspection to assess the vessel’s status and for further measures.
