Japanese ship locates stricken Philippine tanker

0 Comments | AFP, August, 2006

ILOILO, Philippines (AFP) — A Japanese survey ship has located the remains of a sunken tanker three weeks after it went down in rough seas causing the Philippines' worst ever oil spill, the coastguard said. The Shinsei Maru arrived at the port of Iloilo Wednesday night and at first light sailed to the nearby island of Guimaras where the sunken Solar I lies deep on the seabed with nearly half a million gallons of oil still on board.

The Japanese vessel conducted a sonar sweep of the area where the government's mapping bureau said the Solar I went under and reported having detected the wreck, coastguard chief Vice Admiral Arthur Gosingan told AFP. A remote-controlled submersible would also be deployed to check on the condition of the ill-fated tanker and to determine how it...