Pertamina prepares evacuation of tanker ship

State oil and gas firm PT Pertamina said that after handling the oil fuel spill from its MT Patriot Andalan, it is now preparing the evacuation of the tanker ship from Ternate?s oil fuels (BBM) port in eastern Indonesia.

Pertamina Vice President for Corporate Communication, Ali Mundakir said on Thursday that the oil fuel spill from the tanker ship will no longer be a threat to the local environment, as his company had managed to disperse the oil spill with oil dispersant.

?Divers from Marine Guard team and Subsea Team of Pertamina have checked the tanker ship and only found leakage on one compartment of 12 compartments in the tanker ship. A preparation has been made to fix the leakage. After that we?ll be focusing on the evacuation of the ship. The tanker ship was not sunk, only its rear slightly submerged due to intruding sea water,? he said.

He said that only a small volume of diesel fuel pouring out of the tanker ship, as the leakage only occurred in one compartment. ?So actually only a small volume has spilled out. But it has been tackled with oil dispersant so that the oil spill will no longer pose any danger to the local environment,? he added.

Editing by Benget Besalicto ST