In the immediate aftermath of the spill, an oil sheen and slick were observed in western Manila Bay; however, in early August observers noted only intermittent sheens after divers covered leaking valves on the submerged vessel. The Philippine Coast Guard is continuing to focus its efforts on the oil seeping from the vessel. While there have been some initial impacts to shorelines, there is minimal shoreline oiling now. Work is being conducted to cap leaking valves, lighter the remaining oil, and remove the vessel in order to prevent the possibility of catastrophic failure and release that could affect the lives and livelihoods of fisherfolk in nearby coastal towns and communities.

Following an official request from the government of the Philippines for U.S. government support, the U.S. National Response Team (NRT) was activated. The NRT is a network of 15 federal agencies that provides guidance, assistance, and resources for managing pollution incidents. OR&R—a center of expertise in preparing for, evaluating, and responding to oil and chemical spills in coastal environments—represents NOAA on the NRT. With funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), a NOAA Scientific Support Coordinator (SSC) joined six members of the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) National Strike Force deploying on-scene in the Philippines to provide oil spill response assessments and technical expertise. An additional NOAA OR&R biologist is also on site, working in conjunction with the NOAA SSC.

OR&R’s spill modeling tools are supporting operational modeling being conducted by the Philippine Coast Guard’s Marine Science Investigative Force and an oceanographer at the University of the Philippines, Marine Science Institute (UP MSI). Both have been using modeling tools in NOAA’s GNOME suite to forecast the transport and behavior of the spill based on prevailing ocean currents and weather patterns. Bulletins outlining the spill forecasts are available on the UP MSI website. The availability of the GNOME tools is helping UP MSI and the Philippine authorities focus cleanup activities, interventions, and preventative actions in appropriate places, given the potential geographic extent of the disaster.

NOAA has also connected UP MSI with marine pollution imagery products being produced by the Satellite Analysis Branch of NOAA’s National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS). In addition, the Philippine Coast Guard and Philippine Space Agency are using NOAA potential oil extent maps derived from imagery captured by a number of satellites. The maps are available on the International Charter Space and Major Disasters’ website.

Fisherfolk in Bataan, Bulacan, Pampanga, and Cavite could be affected by oil in fishing waters. To help monitor fish landings for oil contamination, the Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources is initially using smell ("sensory") testing of fish, similar to techniques employed during spill responses in the U.S.

The NOAA SSC and biologist will continue to provide on-the-ground scientific and technical expertise to inform the response effort and a remote OR&R team continues to support, as needed. Future operations for the NRT will be to support the Philippine Incident Management Team by reviewing the lightering and salvage plans and providing recommendations.

Having experienced other oil spills in their coastal waters, and inspired by earlier interactions with NOAA response specialists, Philippine authorities have developed oiled shoreline assessment guidance modeled after NOAA products such as the Shoreline Assessment Manual and other tools. The resources they have developed will help them effectively assess shorelines that may be impacted by this incident and make informed cleanup decisions.

NOAA OR&R and the NOAA National Marine Protected Areas Center’s International Marine Protected Areas Capacity Building Team (IMPACT) will continue to build the capacity of the Philippine government (the Biodiversity Management Bureau of the Philippine Department of Environment and Natural Resources) through spill response trainings planned for October and November of this year. The training is funded by USAID through an Interagency Agreement with NOAA coordinated through NOAA's Coral Reef Conservation Program.