Straits Times : Beaches stay clean as oil spill is contained

JUN 14, 2002

Beaches stay clean as oil spill is contained

CLEAN-UP operations by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) have largely contained the oil spill that resulted from the collision of two ships on Wednesday.

Beaches at East Coast, Sentosa and Marina Bay, and fish farms off St John's island remained clean, according to an aerial sweep conducted yesterday afternoon by the authority.

Port waters were described to be 'generally clean' by MPA corporate communications officer Audrey Lee.

Patches of light oil and debris were scooped up by anti-pollution boats in the waters off St John's island.

More broken patches of oil remained visible in the Singapore Straits, 8 km south of Changi, but these thin films of oil should break down naturally, Ms Lee said.

Nevertheless, oil booms were placed off the waters of Marina Bay and Sentosa as a precautionary measure.

Ten anti-pollution boats also continued to monitor the situation and clean up any remaining oil patches.

The collision between Thailand-registered freighter MV Hermion and Singapore-registered bunker tanker Neptank VII caused about 450 tonnes of marine fuel oil to spill into the south-eastern waters of Singapore.

MPA clean-up efforts have averted an environmental disaster. Shipping traffic and the operation of oil refineries and power plants have also not been affected.

The tanker was chartered by Dutch oil giant Shell Eastern Petroleum.

In a similar incident just over a month ago, a Dutch vessel crashed into a wharf at Shell's oil refinery on Pulau Bukom, causing some oil to leak from a pipeline into the sea.