• On February 28, a tanker carrying more than 200,000 gallons of oil sank in the Philippines.
• Since then it has been steadily leaking oil into the sea, killing wildlife and impacting the lives of locals.
• In 2006, another tanker leaked about 109,000 gallons of oil off the Philippine coast in the worst spill in the country’s history to date.

Two weeks ago, an oil tanker known as the MT Princess Empress sank off the coast of the Philippines. It was carrying more than 200,000 gallons of oil.

Since then, oil has steadily leaked out into the sea, blackening shorelines, killing wildlife, and impacting locals’ ability to fish, swim, and live. The spill has now reached Palawan, one of the world’s top beach destinations — and it shows no sign of slowing down. 

Oil spills are notoriously difficult to clean up, and the technology to do so hasn’t developed much since the 1960s. 

Here’s what’s happened so far and why it’s so hard to stop.