Authorities in the Philippines have been alerted after a tanker capsized and sank in the Philippines, leaving an oil slick stretching for nearly 4 kilometers (2.5 miles). The impact, according to experts, could be much wider than what can be seen with the naked eye.

In a typical cleanup, officials would immediately deploy booms, or temporary floating barriers, to limit how far the spill could spread. But bad weather has delayed those efforts, said Hernando Bacosa, an environmental science expert at Mindanao State University.

“The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) is setting an operational goal of 7 days to complete the extraction of oil from the sunken tanker to stop further spread,” said Coast Guard Commandant.

The new video published by the local authorities:

Mr Bacosa said the amount of oil the ship was carrying – about 1.5 million liters – made the incident “level three, the highest level in our national oil spill emergency plan”.

“Manila Bay is also the port of Manila, the largest port in the Philippines and the center of trade and economic activity.

This could actually paralyze the capital and neighboring areas,” he added.

A “huge” amount of oil has already been “spread”.

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) detected an oil spill from the MT Terra Nova, extending about 3.7 kilometers (2.2 miles), describing it as “huge”.

A “strong current” carries the oil in a northeasterly direction.

“It will definitely affect the marine environment,” said Vice Admiral Armand Balilo, a PCG spokesman.

Philippine authorities rush to contain oil spill before it reaches Manila

It is recalled that the Philippine authorities are rushing to contain the oil spill from the MT Terra Nova that sank in Manila Bay while carrying 1.5 million liters of industrial fuel. Earlier, the Coast Guard said there was a risk of it reaching the shores of the capital, Manila.

Manila Bay “stretches” into the capital of the Philippines with a population of 15 million.

Manila Beach is a major commercial and tourist center, with giant malls, call centers and casino resorts.

Manila Bay also crosses provinces with large fishing communities and industrial zones.

“There is a high risk that Manila, even Manila’s coastline, will be affected if the fuel leaks because it is inside Manila Bay,” said Vice Admiral Armand Balilo of the Philippine Coast Guard.

With information from BBC News