Tackling the oil spill that has struck several parts of Singapore’s coastline has been a challenge due to the ever-changing tides, said a senior executive at the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA).

The spillage had occurred on the afternoon of 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.

Speaking to the media during a visit to observe the agency’s clean-up efforts on Tuesday (Jun 18), Captain Chong Jia Chyuan, port master of MPA, said that following the incident, MPA immediately deployed its patrol craft to spray dispersants on the oil spill at the scene.

“Due to the current tides, some oil has landed on the southern coast of Singapore. Some of the challenges that we face is that the oil on sea is very mobile, it keeps moving due to the change of tidal currents,” he explained.

“The deployment of assets to collect this oil is a challenge. Hence, we use technologies such as drones and satellite images to keep track of the latest pictures of the movements of the oil.”

MPA had activated its oil spill response contractors in the aftermath, to collect the oil that had leaked out, and also deployed booms around the two vessels, said Capt Chong.

The two vessels currently remain anchored in the Western Anchorage amid ongoing investigations. The front of the Vox Maxima’s hull was observed to be black on Tuesday, coated in fuel oil from the Marine Honour, which has a gaping hole in its side from which 400 metric tonnes of fuel leaked into the sea.

Capt Chong said the immediate priority after the incident was to ensure that there were no further leaks into the sea from the damaged vessels, something which was achieved by Friday evening.

NEW ASSETS DEPLOYED

The MPA’s current arsenal of oil response assets deployed also includes Current Busters.

A Current Buster is a system that is designed to collect oil on the surface of the water. Towed by two vessels, it sweeps the water’s surface, funneling the oil towards an area where it is contained.

“Each collection is about five tonnes, before the oil can be removed,” explained Capt Chong.

“This is an ongoing effort to ensure that the sea is clean, and also to support agencies’ shoreline cleaning efforts. Currently, we have about three current busters deployed to clean up the coastal waters.”

Three skimmers are also being used in catchment zones where the oil naturally accumulates. Half-floating on the water’s surface, skimmers lift the oil off the water surface into storage tanks, ensuring that it does not also collect too much sea water in the process.

To identify the ever-shifting oil slicks due to the changing tidal currents, MPA uses satellite imagery and, for the first time, drones.

The three drones are piloted from MPA patrol craft. They are more effective in the daytime, when visibility of the water’s surface is clearer.
“This is a continuous effort. We will carry out these operations 24/7, and also continue to monitor the operations on the ground,” said Capt Chong of the MPA’s overall efforts.

As of Tuesday, 18 response craft and some 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 laid over the next few days. They include containment booms floating on the surface of the sea, and absorbent booms which are placed preemptively at biodiversity-sensitive areas, such as Chek Jawa Wetlands at Pulau Ubin, Coney Island Park and Pasir Ris Park, as a precaution.

Capt Chong added that MPA has patrol craft out on the waters all the time, and when it received information about the Jun 14 incident, the nearest craft to the site was deployed to assess the situation.

“There’s a window of opportunity for the oil to react with the dispersant. So within that period, all our response crafts and patrol craft were all called to use dispersant to spray on those oil that spilled on the waters,” he said.

“Subsequently, when the window of opportunity is over, then the strategy is to contain and recover the oil.”

ARE CURRENT MEASURES ENOUGH?

When asked if the authorities’ current response to tackling the oil spill is adequate, Capt Chong said MPA conducts risk assessments to understand the various scenarios that could occur in Singapore and what assets are required in response.

It also has agreements with salvage companies to standby the necessary resources to attend to any oil spills of different scales that may occur, he said.

“So we monitor this closely and of course, we do our regular exercises. From there, we will review whether the procedures and the assets that we have are sufficient to attend to this kind of situation or even worse ones,” said Capt Chong.

As for the cost of the clean-up operations so far, Capt Chong said that there are many agencies involved and it would “take some time to work out with the underwriters and also collate all the figures” such as the assets deployed and all the manpower and logistics involved.

He added that the duration of investigations would depend on the complexity of the incident and how fast investigators can gather the necessary information from the relevant parties.

Mr Stephen Beng, chairman of the Friends of the Marine Park Community, noted that when the news of the oil spill broke, people’s instinctive reaction on social media was typically to question “what can I do, can I go and help clean up the oil, can I go and see what animals need to be saved”.

He urged those who intend to volunteer and contribute to clean-up efforts to do so in a safe and effective way.

“The fact of the matter is professionals are trained specifically for their roles. Everybody has their own domain expertise, and we have to be very careful to contribute within to our capabilities,” he said.

“Knowing the role that you play in the bigger picture is so important. MPA has a job to do. They have all these complexities to deal with. There’s so many tools available and so many assets deployed.”

He said the communities can consider how they can “come in to contribute in a meaningful way” and not get in the way of the clean-up efforts.
Source: CNA