THE Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) responds to an oil spill involving MTUG SUGBO 2 in the vicinity waters off Naga Anchorage, City of Naga, Cebu, yesterday, 03 September 2023.
The PCG team deployed three segments of oil spill boom, two bales of absorbent pads, and four segments of absorbent boom to control the oil spill.
Based on the investigation, the distressed vessel called the PCG to report that they encountered hull damage on the steering portion inside the engine room.
According to the master, he noticed the steering room was flooded due to an approximately four-inch diameter hole at the vessel’s starboard quarter.
He instructed his crew to provide a submersible pump to remove the seawater inside the steering room, but the tugboat lost its power/electricity.
He contacted its sister ship, MTUG SUGBO 5, to connect its power source to the submersible pump, but he terminated the pumping operation due to the increase in the volume of water in the steering room.
Subsequently, MTUG SUGBO 7 arrived at the vicinity waters and rendered assistance, but the rate of water going in was much greater than the water they were able to pump out.
Due to the unfavorable sea conditions, the master instructed all crew on board to abandon the ship for safety before it eventually submerged.
