Bernama 29 May 10;
BATAM (RIAU ISLANDS), May 29 (Bernama) -- Indonesia water is still safe and unaffected from the oil spill caused by a collision involving a Malaysian tanker MT Bunga Kelana 3 and bulk carrier MV Waily in the Singapore Strait on May 25.
"The oil spill has not entered the Batam waters and is still in the outer port limit (OPL) of Singapore Strait," Antara news agency reported Saturday, citing Director of the Riau Islands Water Police Adjunct Senior Commissioner Yassin Kosasih as saying.
He added that the oil spill would not affect Indonesia waters as the wind is currently blowing towards Singapore.
The collision occurred at about 13 kilometre southeast of Singapore's Changi East last Tuesday, and the spill has spread into Malaysian waters, too.
Johor Department of Environment director Dr Zulkifli Abdul Rahman said the spill measuring 1,600-metre long and 960-meter wide, was now 960 meters from the Tanjung Ayam beach in Pengerang, Kota Tinggi, according to a local English daily New Strait Times.
"Currently, the Southern Region Marine Department is in the midst of preventing the spill from reaching the beach," he said in a statement Friday.
Malaysian and Singaporean authorities are working to clean up the spillage of about 2,000 tonnes of crude oil the collision.
Meanwhile Singapore's Strait Times reported that the oil from the collision had spread from the SAF Yacht Club next to the Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal all the way to the chalets in East Coast Park.
The hulls of boats moored at the yacht club were smeared with the dark, viscous oil, some of which had become trapped within the walls of the square marina.
Workers from salvage company Singapore Salvage Engineers were spraying chemical de-greasers in the club's boat launch area to disperse the oil.
-- BERNAMA
