Oil spill during bunkering operations off Changi: MPA

SINGAPORE: The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) said on Tuesday (Oct 29) it was alerted to an oil spill off Changi during bunkering operations between a Bahamas-flagged bulk carrier and a licensed bunker tanker. 
The incident happened on Monday at about 5.40pm. Bunkering operations were stopped immediately, said MPA in a news release.
In an update at about 9am on Tuesday, the authority said that the spill occurred after oil began overflowing from the bulk carrier, the Ines Corrado, and that the overflow had stopped.
An estimated 5 tonnes of oil was reported to have overflowed.
“As at 8am this morning, there is no oil sighted at sea in the vicinity of the incident and ashore,” said MPA. “As a precautionary measure, a current buster has been deployed off Changi to recover oil on water, if sighted.
“The Malaysian authorities have been alerted to keep a lookout for oil sightings. MPA will be investigating the incident.”
Bunkering is the process of refuelling cargo vessels and according to MPA’s official website, Singapore is one of the largest and most important bunkering port in the world.
In its earlier statement, MPA said that its craft arrived at the incident site at about 5.50pm and dispersants were sprayed.
Relevant government agencies were also alerted to keep a lookout for any oil sighting along the shores. It added that the incident had no impact on navigational traffic.
On Oct 20, oil spill containment measures were activated after a leak from an oil pipeline belonging to major energy company Shell occurred.
Shell said that following the incident, about 30 to 40 metric tonnes of “slop” – a mixture of oil and water – had leaked into the sea. 
Shell placed containment booms off the site of the leak and also deployed craft equipped with dispersants to clean up the oil sighted in the vicinity of the leak, said MPA.
“Most of the oil around Bukom has been cleaned up with only small patches of light sheens around Bukom island and Bukom Kechil remaining,” Shell had said. 
Sheen is a thin layer of oil sitting on top of the water.
An advisory that prohibited swimming around East Coast and the Southern Islands was also lifted on Oct 25. 
In June, another oil spill occurred after Netherlands-flagged dredger Vox Maxima hit Singapore-flagged bunker vessel Marine Honour at Pasir Panjang Terminal on Jun 14. 
The Netherlands-flagged dredger experienced a sudden loss in engine and steering control before its allision with Marine Honour.
An allision refers to when a moving vessel hits a stationary object.
The allision ruptured one of Marine Honour’s oil cargo tanks, releasing about 400 tonnes of low-sulphur fuel into the sea. 
Oil washed up along several beaches including at Sentosa Island and East Coast Park, as well as the shoreline at Labrador Nature Reserve causing these beaches to be closed for clean-up operations.
Clean-up operations that resulted from the oil spill involved 800 cleaning personnel and 2,300 volunteers and were completed ahead of schedule more than two months after the incident affected Sentosa and other beaches.