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Endosulfan salvage ops 100% complete - task force


MANILA, Philippines - Salvage crews of the ill-fated MV Princess of the Stars on Sunday afternoon have extracted all of the remaining endosulfan containers from the ship, a radio report said. Radio dzBB's Tuesday Niu quoted Transport undersecretary and Task Force MV Princess of the Stars head Ma. Elena Bautista as saying that the remaining containers of the toxic substance were officially extracted at about 2:30 pm. Philippine Coast Guard commandant, Vice Admiral Wilfredo Tamayo, said the divers from PCG and salvaging firms, Titan Maritime Inc. and Harbor Star, managed to remove the entire 402 packs of endosulfan from the capsized vessel He said the next phase will involve the removal of other toxic chemicals, and after that the bunker fuel. He said they cannot remove the bunker fuel immediately as it will affect the ship's stability. “Then we will retrieve the Bayer then the crude oil from the capsized vessel. Our deadline is Oct. 19,” said Tamayo. Bautista said to extract the bunker fuel, six flanges have been attached to different fuel tanks. She added that the next step will be to bore holes in each flange and hot tap the bunker fuel from different tanks simultaneously. “Removing the hydrocarbons may take a few more days, depending on the weather condition. A great part of the wreck is submerged, which means waves and visibility will be factors in the operation,” Bautista said. MV Princess of the Stars, owned by Sulpicio Lines Inc., capsized off Sibuyan Island in Romblon last June 21 at the height of typhoon "Frank." It was carrying more than 800 crews and passengers. After the chemicals and hydrocarbons are extracted, the victims’ remains will be retrieved next. Plans for the body retrieval have been presented to the Task Force by Sulpicio Lines and Harbor Star. The retrieval operation of the victims’ remains is targeted to start soon. - with Aie Balagtas See, GMANews.TV
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