UPDATED: Body of crew member recovered as tanker and general cargoship capsize in Typhoon Gaemi
Philippines coastguard is tackling a two-mile oil slick following sinking of a small product tanker in Manila Bay
Two ships capsized and three others have been involved in incidents related to Typhoon Gaemi that swept across Taiwan on Thursday
PHILIPPINES-FLAGGED product tanker Terra Nova (IMO: 9092666) capsized in rough seas off the Philippines on Thursday, with one crew member dead and a rush to deal with the 1.4 tonnes of fuel oil it was carrying.
Meanwhile, off Taiwan, a 39-year-old Tanzania-flagged general cargoship Fu Shun (IMO: 8510221) capsized with nine Myanmar crew reported to be on board.
Three other vessels had also run aground during the storm. An Indonesia-flagged, 10,306-dwt bulk cement carrier Iriana (IMO: 9821158) ran aground in Pingtung. The Taiwan coastguard said all 20 crew were safe and there was no risk of oil leak. General cargoship Sopfia (IMO: 8356089), which the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Global Integrated Shipping Information System classifies as falsely Togo-flagged, ran aground off the coast of Taiwan.
Mongolia-flagged 4,500-dwt Basia (IMO: 8593637) ran aground, also in Pingtung. All crews were safe or waiting to be rescued, Taiwan authorities said.
Sixteen of the 17 crew members from the 1,415-dwt, 2002-built Terra Nova had been rescued by early Thursday morning, according to a Philippines coastguard statement.
The coastguard later confirmed that the body of the missing crew member had been found in the water off Limay, Baatan.
Video: Philippines Coast Guard
Officials were still assessing the extent of the oil spill caused by the sinking, but a two-mile slick five nautical miles off Lamao Point was on Thursday morning being carried east by strong currents sparking concerns that the estimated 1.4 tonnes of industrial fuel oil would cause environmental damage.
Strong winds and high waves are hampering oil spill response operations, but Rear Admiral Balilo said siphoning the oil would not be too technical and could happen quickly thanks to the shallow water Terra Nova sank in.
Terra Nova capsized in Manila Bay and had been headed for the central city of Iloilo when it sank.
Typhoon Gaemi hit Taiwan’s eastern Yilan county as a super typhoon after circling off the coast at around midnight local time on Thursday.
