MANILA, Philippines – A Philippine-flagged vessel with 1.4 million liters of industrial fuel oil capsized and submerged off the waters of Bataan, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) reported on Thursday, July 25.

PCG spokesperson Armando Balilo said 16 crew members of the MT Terra Nova have been rescued but one was still missing, and search operations are ongoing.

The maritime incident happened around 1:10 am on Thursday, around 3.6 nautical miles east off Lamao Point in Limay, with no weather disturbance observed at that time.

An aerial survey by the PCG monitored an oil spill 5.6 nautical miles east off Lamao Point with an estimated length of two nautical miles being carried by strong current heading east to northeast.

Authorities are determining the gravity of the oil spill as well as the response needed to address the disaster.

“Right now, we cannot dispatch our resources because of strong winds and high wave,” Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista said during a situation briefing on the impact of southwest monsoon enhanced by Typhoon Carina.

“Can we please add an instruction to the DENR [Department of Environment and Natural Resources] to make an assessment on the environmental impact? Where is the capsized vessel? What are the tides, what are the winds, where is it headed?” Marcos replied. “Hopefully, that will help us dilute the oil spill.”

The PCG said in its press release an investigation is underway to determine the cause of the incident.