The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) announces the fingerprinting results of the collected oil samples sent to France on 04 April 2023 in response to the Oriental Mindoro oil spill.

Cedre, a French agency composed of experts in accidental water pollution, submitted its official analysis report to the PCG on 14 April 2023.

The said report indicated that the oil samples collected at sea in the direct vicinity of the sunken MT PRINCESS EMPRESS showed a positive match to that of the samples collected from the shorelines of Pola, Oriental Mindoro, and to the samples collected from the loading station.

Cedre compared the samples collected on the shoreline to two reference oils considered representative of the fuel onboard MT PRINCESS EMPRESS before the accident — the first oil sample collected at sea in the direct vicinity of the wreck, and the second sample gathered from the tank of SL Harbor Bulk Terminal in Limay, Bataan, where the vessel acquired its Industrial Fuel Oil (IFO).

All the samples were analyzed for oil spill identification using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GCMS) in Scan and SIM modes to examine different compounds.

Scan mode provides a general view of the sample's patterns and is used as a screening method, while the SIM mode enables reliable comparisons based on various families of compounds.

Results of the comparison showed that no significant difference could be demonstrated between the various samples.

Additionally, the oil collected in the station where the tank of the ill-fated vessel was filled represents the oil contained in the ship at the moment of the accident.

Meanwhile, the Japan Disaster Response Team assisted in submitting oil samples for oil fingerprinting analysis by the Maritime Disaster Prevention Center (MDPC) in Japan.

The preliminary results of the dissimilarity analysis show similarities between the cargo oil and the oil collected in the coastal area.

The MDPC will provide the official report, which will be released approximately by the end of April 2023.