The Allied Shield has found oil in tanks number three and five of the sunken MV Solar 1 and retrieval operations have commenced for the removal of the oil through a shuttle, Petron announced yesterday.

On March 20, the Allied Shield ROVs (remotely-operated vehicles) completed penetration of Solar 1's starboard tank no. 4 and found it empty of oil. "The following day, penetration of port tank no. 3 was completed, and oil was found inside. In the succeeding days, port tank no. 5 was similarly penetrated, with oil recovery initiated. The amount of oil recovered is yet to be determined." Petron said.

Allied Shield, a retrieval vessel owned Sonsub, is performing oil recovery operations on the tanker Solar 1, which sunk 9 miles southwest of Guimaras Island on Aug. 11, 2006. The tanker, which was carrying 2,000 tons of Petron fuel oil, sunk to a depth of 640 meters.

Following clean-up operations on the affected shorelines, the Protection and Indemnity Club, the insurer of Solar 1, contracted Sonsub, an Italian firm specializing in deepwater operations, to retrieve any remaining oil on the sunken vessel. This retrieval operation is the final phase of the clean-up, and averts any potential threat of future oil leaks from Solar 1, Petron said.

Allied Shield uses thrusters on its sides to keep it in place (dynamic positioning) directly above Solar 1. A global positioning satellite also continuously checks its position relative to the sunken vessel.*CPG

back to top