Straits Times 25 May 10;
CRUDE oil was spilled off Singapore's south-eastern coast after two ships collided on Tuesday, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore said in an e-mailed statement.
The MT Bunga Kelana 3 tanker collided with the MV Waily bulk carrier at about 6.10am in the Singapore Strait, 13km south-east of Changi East, the statement said.
'There were no report of injury to crew members. However, MT Bunga Kelana 3 suffered damage to one of its cargo tanks, resulting in an oil spill. The Master of MT Bunga Kelana 3 estimated that 2,000 tonnes of crude oil could have spilled into the sea,' the statement said.
It added that the MPA 'immediately dispatched four patrol and emergency response craft to the affected area. MPA also activated oil spill response companies which have deployed three craft equipped with oil spill equipment'.
'Both vessels are currently anchored in the Singapore Strait,' the statement said. 'Work is ongoing to contain and clean up the oil spill.'
The statement also said that traffic in the Singapore Strait remains unaffected. The Malaysian and Indonesian authorities were also informed of the incident.
Tanker and bulk carrier collide off Changi East
Channel NewsAsia 25 May 10;
SINGAPORE: A Malaysian-registered tanker, MT Bunga Kelana 3, and a St Vincents and The Grenadines-registered bulk carrier, MV Waily, have collided in the Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS) of the Singapore Strait.
The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) was alerted to the incident which occurred some 13 kilometres southeast of Changi East, around 6:10am Tuesday.
There were no injuries reported, however, MT Bunga Kelana 3 suffered damage to one of its cargo tanks, resulting in an oil spill of an estimated 2,000 tonnes of crude oil.
The MPA has dispatched four patrol and emergency response craft to the affected area and also activated oil spill response companies which have deployed three craft equipped with oil spill equipment.
Work is ongoing to contain and clean up the oil spill.
Both vessels are currently anchored in the Singapore Strait.
Presently, the MT Bunga Kelana 3 is about 7km south of Changi East while the MV Waily is about 11km southeast of Changi East.
MPA's Port Operations Control Centre has issued navigational broadcasts to ships to keep clear of the anchored vessels and traffic in the remains unaffected.
- CNA/jy
Update: Oil spill after ships collide
Bernice Bong, Business Times Singapore 25 May 10;
SINGAPORE - Crude oil was spilled off Singapore's Changi coast after a Malaysian registered tanker collided with a bulk carrier on Tuesday morning, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore said.
The MPA said in a press release on Tuesday that the incident happened about 13 kilometres southeast of Changi East.
It said it received a report at about 6.10am that the MT Bunga Kelana 3 and a St Vincents and The Grenadines-registered carrier collided in the Singapore Straits. Both vessels are currently anchored there.
It also said that there was no report of injury to crew members. However, one of the cargo tanks on the tanker was damaged, resulting in 2,000 tonnes of oil spilled.
MPA added work is ongoing to contain and clean up the spill.
The tanker is owned by MISC subsidiary American Eagles.
Collision between MT Bunga Kelana 3 and MV Waily in the Singapore Strait
MPA media release 25 May 10;
1. At about 6:10am on 25 May 2010, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) received a report that a Malaysian-registered tanker, MT Bunga Kelana 3 and a St Vincents and The Grenadines-registered bulk carrier, MV Waily had collided in the Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS) of the Singapore Strait. The incident location is about 13 kilometres southeast of Changi East.
2. Both vessels are currently anchored in the Singapore Strait. MV Waily is currently about 11 kilometres southeast of Changi East and MT Bunga Kelana 3 is about 7 kilometres south of Changi East.
3. MPA's Port Operations Control Centre has issued navigational broadcasts to ships transiting the TSS to keep clear of the anchored vessels. Traffic in the TSS remains unaffected.
4. There was no report of injury to crew members. However, MT Bunga Kelana 3 suffered damage to one of its cargo tanks, resulting in an oil spill. The Master of MT Bunga Kelana 3 estimated that 2,000 tonnes of crude oil could have spilled into the sea.
5. Upon notification, MPA immediately dispatched four patrol and emergency response craft to the affected area. MPA also activated oil spill response companies which have deployed three craft equipped with oil spill equipment. Work is ongoing to contain and clean up the oil spill.
6. MPA has also informed the Malaysian and Indonesian authorities of the incident.
7. Further details will be issued when available.
ISSUED BY THE MARITIME AND PORT AUTHORITY OF SINGAPORE (MPA)
For clarifications, please contact:
Ms Serene Tan
MPA media hotline: (65) 8366-2294
Email: Serene_Tan@mpa.gov.sg
Malaysia coastguard says damaged tanker has 10m gash
Forexyard 25 May 10;
SINGAPORE-OILSPILL/MALAYSIA (URGENT)
KUALA LUMPUR, May 25 (Reuters) - A tanker and a bulk carrier collided in Malaysian waters off Singapore on Tuesday at 6.05 a.m. (2200 GMT on Monday), Malaysian coast guard officials said.
They said the collision between the two ships --identified as tanker Bunga Kelana 3, and the MT Waily -- led to an oilspill.
"The collision caused a 10-metre (yard) tear in the left side of the tanker and 2,000 metric tonnes of crude oil has spilled into the sea where the collision occured," Commander Abdul Hadib bin Abdul Wahab told Reuters.
Malaysia's largest shipping company MISC a unit of state-run oil company Petronas, lists the Bunga Kelana 3 as an Aframax class tanker built in 1998 with a dead-weight-tonnage of 105,784 on its website (http://www.misc.com.my).
The tanker is owned by MISC subsidiary American Eagles. (Reporting by Razak Ahmad; Editing by Jerry Norton)
Tanker in collision carrying light crude, condensate
Reuters 25 May 10;
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - The tanker Bunga Kelana 3 was carrying light crude oil and condensate when it was involved in a collision with a bulk carrier in waters between Malaysia and Singapore waters early on Tuesday, a spokesman for vessel owner AET said.
"The Bunga Kelana 3 is a vessel owned and managed by AET. At the moment she is now safely at anchor off Changi," Paul Lovell, head of corporate communication atf AET, told Reuters. Changi is located in the east of Singapore.
"She was carrying two types of cargo, some condensate and some very light crude, it was about 40 percent condensate and about 60 percent light crude on the vessel at the time of the incident. It looks though the spill would have been from the very light crude, the exact amount I can't tell you," he said.
The spokesman could not say who owns the oil.
AET Tanker Holdings Sdn Bhd operates is a wholly owned subsidiary of international transport and energy company MISC Bhd, a unit of national oil firm Petronas.
(Reporting by Soo Ai Peng, Writing by Ramthan Hussain; editing by Michael Urquhart)
Tanker Collision Spills 2,000 Tons Oil off Singapore (Update2)
Yee Kai Pin and Jane Lee Boomberg Businessweek 25 May 10;
May 25 (Bloomberg) -- A tanker collided with a bulk carrier off Singapore’s southeastern coast, spilling 2,000 metric tons of crude oil near the world’s busiest port.
The MT Bunga Kelana 3 tanker collided with the MV Waily at about 6:10 a.m. local time in the Singapore Strait, 13 kilometers (8 miles) southeast of Changi East, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore said in a statement. About 140,000 vessels call at Singapore each year, it said on its website. The city-state is also Asia’s biggest center for oil storage and bunkering.
“If you have an oil spill in a harbor, a populated area, it’s going to cause some concern,” said Stuart Traver, a downstream adviser at energy consultants Gaffney, Cline & Associates Ltd. in Singapore. “Two thousand tons of oil is not small -- most environmental organizations get upset about even smaller slicks.”
The spill is equivalent to 14,660 barrels or 616,000 U.S. gallons, almost enough to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool. BP Plc estimated a damaged Gulf of Mexico oil well has been leaking 5,000 barrels a day since an April 20 explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, which killed 11 workers. Independent scientists have told the U.S. Congress crude oil was coming out at more than 10 times the estimate.
Vessels Anchored
The two ships remain anchored in the Singapore Strait, the Maritime and Port Authority statement said. “Work is ongoing to contain and clean up the oil spill.”
AET Tanker Holdings Sdn., the owner of the Bunga Kelana 3 and a unit of Malaysia’s MISC Bhd., is working to “minimize the damage from the oil that’s leaked,” said Paul Lovell, a spokesman for AET Tanker.
“A number of oil-retaining booms have been deployed,” Lovell said by telephone. “These were done by specialist companies retained by the company. We’re doing all we can. There were no casualties on Bunga Kelana 3. We had 27 crew on the vessel.”
The Malaysia-flagged Bunga Kelana 3, classed as a Long Range 2 tanker, was built in 1998 with 12 cargo tanks, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. It has a double hull, a design meant to prevent oil leaks or flooding beyond the outer compartment.
The vessel is sitting in 11.4 meters of water, compared with its draft of 14.9 meters, based on transmissions captured by AISLive on Bloomberg. This indicates it’s fully laden.
“At this stage, the impact could be relatively mild,” Traver said. “It’s not the same of course as a spewing oil well which won’t stop -- presumably this is it, this is over.”
Treasure Marine Ltd. is the beneficial owner of the Waily, Bloomberg data showed. The 25,449-deadweight ton vessel, flying a St. Vincent & The Grenadines flag, was built in 1983.
--Editors: Clyde Russell, Ang Bee Lin.
Related links
Singapore Changi East Oil Spill (25 May 2010) Facebook Page for latest info, updates and observations of the oil spill.
