Thousands of fishermen in the Philippines have been ordered to stay ashore as authorities struggled Friday to contain an oil spill from a sunken tanker that is threatening the region’s rich marine life and economy.
The slick off Mindoro island, south of the capital Manila, stretched for 120 kilometres (75 miles) and was about nine kilometres offshore, said Ram Temena, disaster operations chief in the affected province of Mindoro Oriental.
The Philippine Coast Guard is still looking for the Princess Empress, which had engine trouble and sank in rough seas off Naujan municipality on Tuesday.
