Divers attempt to reach sunken Philippine oil tanker

Manila: Divers will attempt Saturday to inspect the hull of a Philippine tanker carrying 1.4 million litres of industrial fuel oil that sank off Manil...

Manila: Divers will attempt Saturday to inspect the hull of a Philippine tanker carrying 1.4 million litres of industrial fuel oil that sank off Manila as authorities race to avert an ecological catastrophe, the coast guard said.

The MT Terra Nova sank in bad weather in the busy waterway early Thursday, killing one crew member and leaving the country potentially facing its worst oil spill disaster.

"The weather is still bad but that is their goal for today, to conduct diving operations to determine the position of the ship and to check if there is a leak," coast guard spokesman Rear Admiral Armando Balilo told AFP.

If the inspection by divers from the coast guard and a private contractor is successful, the salvor is under instructions "to start the syphoning tomorrow if possible", Balilo added.

The ship that will carry the recovered oil is on its way to the area, he said.