MANILA, Philippines — The extraction of the remaining oil spill in Oriental Mindoro and nearby areas will take up to a month, government officials said on Saturday, May 27.

“The operations will last for 20 to 30 days, if weather conditions are favorable, meaning the remaining oil from the sunken vessel will be retrieved,” Office of the Civil Defense administrator Ariel Nepomuceno said in a statement issued by the Presidential Communications Office on Saturday. 

Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) Commandant Admiral Artemio Abu, whose agency also addresses the spill, shared the same position. 

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On Saturday, Malacañang also announced that the Dynamic Support Vessel (DSV), the ship that will extract the remaining oil, had arrived in the country. The DSV Fire Opal arrived at Riviera Pier in Subic Bay Freeport Zone on Friday, Malacañang added. The ship was chartered by the Malayan Towage & Salvage Corporation, and contracted by the Protection & Indemnity Insurance Club. 

The vessel will siphon the remaining oil and then transfer the waste to a tanker. The collected oil will be disposed afterwards. 

On Saturday night, the DSV Fire Opal will leave Subic and will arrive in Batangas on Sunday. It will later proceed to its designated mission area, Malacañang added. 

Japanese vessel Shin Nichi Maru, a remotely-operated vehicle, was also deployed and helped in clean-up efforts in Oriental Mindoro in March. 

Meanwhile, Department of National Defense Senior Undersecretary Carlito Galvez Jr. earlier said that 62.95 kilometers or 84.26% of the 74.71 kilometers of affected coastline has already been cleaned up, as of May 10.

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The acting defense chief added that a total of 6,801 liters of oil waste and 300,603.6 liters of oil-contaminated waste have been collected so far in the oil spill-hit areas. 

MT Princess Empress tanker left the private port SL Harbor Terminal in Limay, Bataan carrying 800,00 liters of industrial fuel oil but encountered big waves and strong winds early morning of February 28. It capsized and sank off the coast of Naujan, Oriental Mindoro later that day. – Rappler.com