But the company that chartered the doomed Solar I, sitting on the seabed with 450,000 gallons of oil still on board, denied the claims of the coastguard which said a new leak had sprung overnight.

Japan and Indonesia have offered to help their neighbor deal with the disaster. Tokyo said it sent a small team of experts Tuesday to assess the damage and provide advice on the clean-up.

"It's definite that there is a leak," coastguard chief Vice Admiral Arturo Gosingan told local television. He said the oil was "probably" coming out at 200 litres, or slightly more than 50 gallons, an hour.

The civil defense office said the spill had now spread over some 300 kilometers (200 miles) of coastline on Guimaras island and was now threatening Negros, the country's fourth-largest island, as well as Panay island.

The ship went down in bad weather off the small island of Guimaras on August 11, spewing oil that has devastated beaches, reefs and marine reserves. Two of the crew are missing.

Only one of the ship's 10 compartments is known to have burst so far, emptying its 50,000 gallons of industrial fuel oil into the sea in what has become one of the worst environmental catastrophes to hit the Philippines.

The slick -- now a semi-solid black gel -- has killed marine life and strangled mangrove forest. Rotting fish litter the beaches, where villagers are using shovels to scoop up the chunks of oily muck.

It now threatens both Negros and Panay, where villagers were erecting crude booms off beaches to hold back the sludge.

Apart from the environmental impact the disaster has also been felt economically with thousands of poor fishermen losing their livelihoods.

Gosingan said Petron has been handed a bill for 100 million pesos (1.95 million dollars) for the initial clean-up.

Petron Corp. spokeswoman Virginia Ruivivar denied there had been any more oil seeping out of the stricken vessel, which is around 3,000 feet (900 meters) underwater.

She said that under international conventions, "the spiller pays" while noting that the tanker's owners are a small company and did not have the resources to pay up front.

With authorities unsure whether to try and refloat the vessel or suck out the remaining fuel, there is a race against time amid fears the water pressure could burst the remaining compartments at any time.

Petron said it was consulting marine contractors on which option would be best but gave no timetable for a decision.

Gosingan confirmed the Japanese offer and added that the Philippines coastguard has an understanding with its Indonesian counterpart on joint cooperation in maritime problems.

"They are willing to come in anytime we invite them," he added.

Greenpeace, which last week called the situation a "ticking time bomb," warned the government Tuesday to prepare for long-term damage over a wide area.

"The impact of this oil spill on the environment will linger for years, even decades. The government must learn from this disaster," it said.

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