The Korean Coast Guard (KCG) response team arrived Tuesday to help the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) clean up a nearly three-week old oil spill in Oriental Mindoro.

The KCG response team was composed of Lee Jongham, director of the Marine Pollution Response Division and the members of the KCG Special Rescue Unit including Kang Kyungyeun, Nam Sunghoon, and Jeong Sangyoung.

Officials from the Embassy of the Republic of Korea to the Philippines, including Consul General Hong Soon Chang, 3rd Secretary Kim Dosik, Vice Consul Kwon Minhyuck, and Officer Kim Yechan, also visited the PCG Headquarters.

Rear Admiral Armando Balilo, the PCG spokesperson, welcomed the KCG response team at the PCG headquarters in Manila.

According to Balilo, it is good there are countries like Korea that share their expertise and knowledge about the oil spill response.

Balilo said there was progress in the clean-up operations.

“Now on how many kilometers (of oil) we have cleaned. Before, it was reported that it was 55 kilometers. But now, only nine kilometers have patches of oil. There are still traces of oil but it’s not as much as before. So although we don’t want to mention it, but at least we can see progress in the response to the incident,” Balilo said at a press conference.

Officials of the PCG, headed by PCG Commandant Artemio Abu held a briefing, with the KCG response team on the oil spill situation in Oriental Mindoro.

The Korean government last week announced that they would provide 20 tons of sorbet pads and snares, 1,000 meters of solid flotation curtain boom, and 2,000 sets of personal protective equipment (PPE) to the Philippines.

On February 28, Princess Empress which was carrying around 800,000 liters of industrial fuel sank in the waters of Naujan, Oriental Mindoro. Jaspearl Tan/DMS