Philippine ship carrying fuel sinks, two missing

Manila, Aug 12: A tanker with 14,000 barrels of fuel oil sank in rough seas near the central Philippine island of Guimaras, the country's largest oil refiner, Petron Corp., said today.

Two crew were still missing, said Rafael Ledesma, a Petron spokesman, and it was unclear if the accident caused an oil spill.

''Our oil spill equipment is being readied and we will deploy these once when we get a clearer picture of the situation,'' he said in a statement.

''The 16 crew members and two surveyors were forced to abandon the vessel and only reached the town of Valencia this morning,'' said Ledesma.

The town is about 32 kilometres from where the MV Solar 1 sank after giant waves swamped the vessel.

Ledesma said the vessel has been on its way to deliver fuel oil to a power plant in Zamboanga, a key port city on southern Mindanao.

REUTERS