There are fears the "enormous" spill - which is
already stretching out over several kilometers - could reach the shore of the
capital, Manila, Coast Guard spokesman Rear Admiral Armando Balilo told
reporters.
The ship was one of two that sank in the region on Thursday,
with the second going down just off Taiwan's southwestern coast.
Both Taiwan and the Philippines are seeing large amounts of
rain as Typhoon Gaemi moves through the area, causing widespread flooding.
The typhoon made landfall in mainland China on Thursday
evening local time, with authorities declaring the highest tier disaster
warning.
It first struck Taiwan on Wednesday evening, killing three
as it made its way across the island.
Four
counties and cities in Taiwan saw more than a thousand millimeters of rainfall
during a 14-hour period ending Thursday afternoon.
The Philippines avoided a direct hit by Gaemi, but the storm
intensified seasonal monsoon rains, triggering widespread flooding across large
swathes of Metro Manila and its suburbs.
Despite the heavy rains, the MT Terra Nova, which sails
under the Philippines' flag, had not broken any regulations around traveling in
heavy weather, according to Rear Admiral Balilo.
The tanker was heading for the central Philippine city of
Iloilo when it sank, with 17 crew members on board.
One died, but 16 were successfully rescued, officials said.
Authorities are investigating whether bad weather was a factor.
The Coast Guard is now "racing against time" to
contain the spill, which could - if all of the oil leaks - become the biggest
in the country's history.
High winds and rough seas were hampering their attempts,
however.
Even if they managed to avoid a catastrophe of that
magnitude, Rear Admiral Balilo said it would "definitely affect the marine
environment".
Pando Hicap, chairman of local fishing group Pamalakaya,
said the spill was "alarming" because fishermen's livelihoods were
"dependent on the waters".
"They don't have any alternative," he told news
agency AFP.
Meanwhile, to the north in Taiwan, all nine sailors were
initially reported missing after their Tanzania-flagged cargo ship Fu Shun went
down.
The
Myanmar nationals were forced to abandon the sinking ship, Hsiao Huan-chang,
head of the fire agency, told AFP.
"They fell into the sea and were floating there,"
he said.
The first attempts to reach the crew, who were wearing
lifejackets, were hampered by the low visibility and high winds, but by the end
of Thursday three had been reported rescued.
The typhoon was originally expected to hit further north,
but the mountains of northern Taiwan steered it slightly south towards the city
of Hualien.
The typhoon is expected to weaken as it tracks over the
mountainous terrain of Taiwan before re-emerging in the Taiwan Strait towards
China.
A second landfall is expected in the Fujian province in
southeastern China later on Thursday. Several rail operators in China have also
suspended operations.
