A special Philippine Coast Guard task force composed of three ships, an airplane and 100 men to secure the Allied Shield's recovery of oil on board MT Solar 1 that sank off the coast of Guimaras will set up base in Bacolod City starting today, Commodore Arturo Olavario said yesterday.

Olavario, head of the special task force, said their securing the Allied Shield's operations includes setting up a 1 kilometer radius no entry area around oil the recovery site.

Solar 1 sank 9 kilometers south of Guimaras to a depth of about 2,100 meters carrying about 2,000 tons of oil owned by Petron in August last year.

In the event of an oil spill during the Allied Shield's recovery operations, Olavario said the Coast Guard is also tasked with preventing its spread.

The Allied Shield, a vessel of Sonsub, an Italian firm specializing in deepwater operations, has also hired private responder Malayan Towage to respond in case of a spill, he added.

Olavario said that, in the event of a spill the Coast Guard will take over operations and the private responder will be under its command.

However, he also said the Coast Guard is banking on Sonsub's reputation and credibility that no such spill will occur.

Olvario noted that the Allied Shield is currently conducting survey operations at the sink site and is expected to start actual retrieval work tomorrow.

Of the three ships that are part of their special task force, Olavario said two - BRP Corregidor and BRP Romblon - will serve as marine pollution control vessels while the BRP Viscaya will be tasked with security operations.

He said their vessels are equipped with medical personnel and scientists to operate a mobile laboratory that will get water samples for testing. They will also have a damage assessment team from the Marine Environmental Protection command, he added.*CPG

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