Oil slick threatens S'pore coast after ship
collision
SINGAPORE : Emergency teams scrambled to contain a
2,500-tonne oil spill near one of the world's busiest ports on
Tuesday after two vessels collided in the Singapore Strait,
officials said.
A crude oil slick about four kilometres (2.5 miles) long
and one kilometre wide was spotted near the east coast of Singapore
hours after the pre-dawn collision, Singapore's Maritime and Port
Authority (MPA) said.
The Malaysian-registered tanker MT Bunga Kelana suffered a gash on
its port side after colliding with the MV Waily, a bulk carrier
registered in St Vincent and the Grenadines, Malaysian maritime
officials said.
Singapore's MPA said a total of 20 vessels from Singapore and
Malaysia were involved in the clean-up effort while 200 personnel
were on standby to attend to coastal areas that might be affected
by the slick.
"Efforts to contain and clean up the oil spill are ongoing," it
said, adding that neither the spill nor the emergency response had
affected ship movements in the busy commercial route running along
the Singapore and Malacca straits.
The city state was working closely with Malaysian and Indonesian
authorities.
Containment booms were being used to confine the oil slick, which
was being treated with biodegradable dispersants designed to break
down the slick into smaller globules to be collected by response
vessels.
Singapore marinas, ferry terminals, sea sports centres and other
waterfront facilities were told to be prepared for possible effects
of the oil spill, although one salvage expert said much of the
crude would evaporate.
A strong smell of fuel wafted over parts of Singapore as some of
the oil evaporated in the tropical heat.
Singapore is one of the world's busiest ports, with data from the
MPA showing the island-nation handled 472 million tonnes of cargo
last year, with bulk oil cargo constituting 37.5 per cent of the
amount.
Malaysia's Maritime Enforcement Agency said in a statement that the
MT Bunga Kelana 3 had been towed to Singapore's Changi port for
repairs while the MV Waily was still anchored at the collision
site.
The statement added that the double-hulled tanker - designed to
minimise cargo spillage in case of an accident - was carrying
almost 62,000 tonnes of crude.
Earlier, the agency told AFP the collision had torn a 10-metre
(33-foot) gash in the tanker's port side.
The tanker's operators, Malaysia-based AET, said in a statement:
"Oil booms are being placed around the leaked cargo to contain the
spill."
A spokeswoman for AET said the tanker had been carrying Bintulu
light crude and the oil was most probably the one leaking into the
sea.
"It seems to be a lot but if it is light crude, it will just
evaporate," said Ho Yew Weng, response and projects manager of
disaster management firm Oil Spill Response Singapore.
Ho added that Singapore's hot climate would make the crude disperse
even faster, and with the oil's prolonged exposure to the sun since
morning, "a lot of evaporation would have taken place".
Temperatures were likely to reach as high as 32 degrees Celsius (90
degrees Fahrenheit), the Singapore Meteorological Service
said.
Other salvage operators interviewed by AFP said the spill could
potentially be damaging for the environment, but the authorities'
swift response would significantly lessen the impact.
"I think it can be controlled. 2,000 tonnes will not do as much
damage if the teams are already there," a salvage operator who did
not want to be named said.
The spill was significantly smaller than that affecting the Gulf of
Mexico, which has seen hundreds of thousands of gallons (litres) of
oil leak into the sea each day since the Deepwater Horizon rig
exploded and sank last month.
- AFP/al
