PCG braces for oil spill as tugboat sinks off Zambales

HAZARD THREAT Part of the tugboat SL Sual is seen off Barangay Bangan in Botolan, Zambales, after it sank on Aug. 24 while emergency salvage operations were under way. —Philippine Coast Guard photo

SAN ANTONIO, ZAMBALES, Philippines — Authorities on Tuesday deployed oil spill response personnel and equipment to prevent a possible diesel leak from a tugboat that sank off Barangay Bangan in Botolan, Zambales.

Carrying about 15,000 liters of diesel, SL Sual sank on Monday while emergency salvage operations were under way, days after it ran aground near the mouth of the Bucao River on Aug. 14.

Cmdr. Euphraim Jayson Diciano, head of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) in Zambales, said additional personnel and equipment from the PCG’s Marine Environmental Protection Group in Manila had arrived in the area on Tuesday in preparation for a possible fuel spill.

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