SINGAPORE: The incident between a dredger and a stationary bunker vessel that resulted in an oil spill was not caused by port congestion, Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat said on Tuesday (Jun 18).
The spill occurred on Jun 14 at Pasir Panjang Terminal, after Netherlands-flagged dredger Vox Maxima hit a stationary Singapore-flagged bunker vessel Marine Honour, causing oil from the latter’s damaged cargo tank to spill into the water.
In a Facebook post on Tuesday, Mr Chee said some members of the public have asked if this incident was due to congestion in Singapore's port waters.
"Investigations are still ongoing, but preliminary findings show that the allision on Jun 14 was caused by the dredger experiencing sudden loss of engine and steering controls.
"It is not due to port congestion as our port waters and anchorages are not congested.
"The earlier reports on delays experienced by container vessels (are) a separate matter that is due to the bunching of container vessels arriving at PSA."
An allision is a shipping term for when a moving vessel hits a stationary object.
On May 31, the Maritime and Port Authority said that Singapore had seen a significant increase in vessel arrivals since the start of the year.
In the first four months of 2024, the monthly average tonnage of container vessel arrivals reached 72.4 million gross tonnage, which was an increase of more than 1 million gross tonnage per month, compared with the same period in 2023.
Workers clean an oil spill along Sentosa's Tanjong Beach area in Singapore, Jun 16, 2024. (Photo: AP/Suhaimi Abdullah)
The Current Buster system, a vessel-deployed specialised oil floating containment and recovery device is capable of collecting up to five tonnes of oil. (Photo: CNA/Marcus Mark Ramos)
A skimmer is used to recover spilled oil from the water's surface, as seen in this photo taken on Jun 18, 2024. (Photo: CNA/Marcus Mark Ramos)
Giving a timeline of the incident, Mr Chee said the dredger hit the tanker at 2.18pm.
Authorities were alerted of the incident at 2.22pm, and MPA responded by 2.33pm to ensure there were no further leaks in the bunker vessel, which still had 400 metric tonnes of fuel oil in its tank.
MPA patrol craft sprayed dispersant to treat the oil that had already spilt into the sea.
"This is important to prevent the oil from hardening, which would make subsequent clean-up operations at sea and on land much harder," said the Transport Minister.
MPA’s contractor also mobilised oil booms around the damaged vessel to prevent further oil spill that may leak from the vessel.
"While the booms can help reduce the spread of the spill, they may not completely prevent the oil from spreading as some of the oil could be carried by tidal currents and waves, and go above or below the booms," said Mr Chee.
He added that it would take some time for MPA to complete the full investigation and "progressively clean up the oil spill".
"We seek the understanding of members of the public and businesses who are affected by this incident. We will do our best to complete the clean-up as soon as possible," he wrote on Facebook.
He said that MPA will work with government agencies, industry partners, volunteers and neighbouring countries to monitor the situation closely and "take the necessary actions".
The dredger and bunker vessel remain at the Western Anchorage amid the investigations.
As of Tuesday, 18 response craft and about 1,500m of booms have been deployed to prevent any further spread of the oil and facilitate the clean-up.
Another 1,600m of booms will be installed over the next few days. They include containment booms floating on the surface of the sea, as well as absorbent booms which are placed as a precaution at biodiversity-sensitive areas, such as Chek Jawa Wetlands at Pulau Ubin, Coney Island Park and Pasir Ris Park.
Beaches at St John's, Lazarus and Kusu islands will be closed until further notice, in addition to areas B to H of East Coast Park, as well as the jetty and rocky shore of Labrador Nature Reserve, authorities said.
Sentosa's beaches are open to the public, but sea activities and swimming are not allowed at Tanjong, Palawan and Siloso beaches.
Members of the public are advised to keep away from the affected beaches during the clean-up.
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The spill occurred on Jun 14 at Pasir Panjang Terminal, after Netherlands-flagged dredger Vox Maxima hit a stationary Singapore-flagged bunker vessel Marine Honour, causing oil from the latter’s damaged cargo tank to spill into the water.
In a Facebook post on Tuesday, Mr Chee said some members of the public have asked if this incident was due to congestion in Singapore's port waters.
"Investigations are still ongoing, but preliminary findings show that the allision on Jun 14 was caused by the dredger experiencing sudden loss of engine and steering controls.
"It is not due to port congestion as our port waters and anchorages are not congested.
"The earlier reports on delays experienced by container vessels (are) a separate matter that is due to the bunching of container vessels arriving at PSA."
An allision is a shipping term for when a moving vessel hits a stationary object.
On May 31, the Maritime and Port Authority said that Singapore had seen a significant increase in vessel arrivals since the start of the year.
In the first four months of 2024, the monthly average tonnage of container vessel arrivals reached 72.4 million gross tonnage, which was an increase of more than 1 million gross tonnage per month, compared with the same period in 2023.
Workers clean an oil spill along Sentosa's Tanjong Beach area in Singapore, Jun 16, 2024. (Photo: AP/Suhaimi Abdullah)
The Current Buster system, a vessel-deployed specialised oil floating containment and recovery device is capable of collecting up to five tonnes of oil. (Photo: CNA/Marcus Mark Ramos)
A skimmer is used to recover spilled oil from the water's surface, as seen in this photo taken on Jun 18, 2024. (Photo: CNA/Marcus Mark Ramos)
Giving a timeline of the incident, Mr Chee said the dredger hit the tanker at 2.18pm.
Authorities were alerted of the incident at 2.22pm, and MPA responded by 2.33pm to ensure there were no further leaks in the bunker vessel, which still had 400 metric tonnes of fuel oil in its tank.
MPA patrol craft sprayed dispersant to treat the oil that had already spilt into the sea.
"This is important to prevent the oil from hardening, which would make subsequent clean-up operations at sea and on land much harder," said the Transport Minister.
MPA’s contractor also mobilised oil booms around the damaged vessel to prevent further oil spill that may leak from the vessel.
"While the booms can help reduce the spread of the spill, they may not completely prevent the oil from spreading as some of the oil could be carried by tidal currents and waves, and go above or below the booms," said Mr Chee.
He added that it would take some time for MPA to complete the full investigation and "progressively clean up the oil spill".
"We seek the understanding of members of the public and businesses who are affected by this incident. We will do our best to complete the clean-up as soon as possible," he wrote on Facebook.
He said that MPA will work with government agencies, industry partners, volunteers and neighbouring countries to monitor the situation closely and "take the necessary actions".
The dredger and bunker vessel remain at the Western Anchorage amid the investigations.
Related:
As of Tuesday, 18 response craft and about 1,500m of booms have been deployed to prevent any further spread of the oil and facilitate the clean-up.
Another 1,600m of booms will be installed over the next few days. They include containment booms floating on the surface of the sea, as well as absorbent booms which are placed as a precaution at biodiversity-sensitive areas, such as Chek Jawa Wetlands at Pulau Ubin, Coney Island Park and Pasir Ris Park.
Beaches at St John's, Lazarus and Kusu islands will be closed until further notice, in addition to areas B to H of East Coast Park, as well as the jetty and rocky shore of Labrador Nature Reserve, authorities said.
Sentosa's beaches are open to the public, but sea activities and swimming are not allowed at Tanjong, Palawan and Siloso beaches.
Members of the public are advised to keep away from the affected beaches during the clean-up.
Related:
Continue reading...