The Philippine Coast Guard and other partners have deployed assets in response to a ship grounding incident that occurred off the coast of the Philippines' Oriental Mindoro province on Monday, February 9.
The locally-registered Espada had earlier departed the Port of Calaca in Batangas province and was en route to Bais in Negros Oriental province when she reportedly encountered adverse weather off Oriental Mindoro's Naujan municipality on Monday.
The vessel then sought shelter but eventually ran aground in a mixture of mud and sand in shallow waters approximately 300 metres from a river estuary.
Personnel at the Philippine Coast Guard station in nearby Calapan municipality were notified of the incident and deployed to the area shortly afterwards to conduct an on-site verification and to ensure the safety of the ship's 18-strong crew.
The coast guard said the tanker was in stable condition with her hull remaining intact and no water ingress or marine pollution observed. Spill booms have nonetheless been placed in a pre-positioning area to facilitate their immediate deployment if needed.
A tug has been sent to the area to tow Espada from where she had become stranded and into deeper waters to allow a full safety and damage assessment to be conducted.
