Yee Kai Pin, Bloomberg BusinessWeek 25 May 10;
May 25 (Bloomberg) -- A flotilla of 20 ships was deployed to contain and clean up an oil spill that has moved to within 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) of Singapore’s southeastern coast after a collision between a tanker and a bulk carrier.
The MT Bunga Kelana 3 spilled 2,500 metric tons of crude oil after a collision with the bulk carrier MV Waily at 6:03 a.m. today in the Singapore Strait, 13 kilometers southeast of Changi East, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore said in a statement. That’s equivalent to three days of leakage from BP Plc’s damaged well in the Gulf of Mexico.
The spill is equivalent to 18,325 barrels or 769,650 U.S. gallons, enough to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool. BP estimated its 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 was coming out at more than 10 times that estimate.
“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 Maritime and Port Authority said five of its patrol craft, along with five from Malaysia and 10 from companies were at the spill, which measures 4 kilometers by 1 kilometer. Singapore is the world’s largest container port.
Oil Dispersal
“The response craft are equipped with 41 tons of non-toxic and bio-degradable oil spill dispersants, 1,500 meters of containment booms and two skimmers with fast tanks,” the authority said. Eighty-five people are deployed to the clean-up effort, with as further 200 on standby should it reach shore.
The two ships remain anchored off Singapore, the authority 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 MISC Bhd., is working to “minimize the damage from the oil that’s leaked,” said Paul Lovell, a company spokesman. Petroliam Nasional Bhd., Malaysia’s state oil and gas company that is known as Petronas, is MISC’s biggest shareholder.
“A number of oil-retaining booms have been deployed,” Lovell said by telephone. “These were done by specialist companies retained by the company. There were no casualties on Bunga Kelana 3. We had 27 crew on the vessel.”
Stock Slides
MISC, the world’s biggest owner of liquefied natural gas tankers, declined 1 percent to 8.42 ringgit in Kuala Lumpur, after dropping as much as 4.6 percent. The stock fell for a fifth day, the longest losing streak since April 2006.
The Malaysia-flagged Bunga Kelana 3, classed as an Aframax 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, struck on its port side, currently has a loaded draft of 11.4 meters (37.4 feet), compared with its maximum of 14.9 meters, based on transmissions captured by AISLive on Bloomberg. This indicates it’s almost fully laden.
The Bunga Kelana was carrying Bintulu Condensate, a grade of ultra-light crude oil, said three traders in Singapore, Asia’s biggest oil-trading center. It departed Bintulu, off Malaysia’s Sarawak state, on May 23, according to Bloomberg data. Petronas officials in Kuala Lumpur declined to comment.
“Bunga Kelana 3 has made her way, under her own power, and is now safely anchored,” AET, which owns or operates 71 vessels, said in an e-mailed statement. “The condition of the other vessel is stable.”
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. It sailed from the east Indian port of Paradip about two weeks ago.
“At this stage, the impact could be relatively mild,” said Traver at Gaffney, Cline & Associates. “It’s not the same of course as a spewing oil well which won’t stop -- presumably this is it, this is over.”
--With assistance from Jane Lee in Kuala Lumpur. Editors: Clyde Russell, Lars Klemming.
Tanker and carrier collide off Singapore
Reuters 25 May 10;
SINGAPORE/KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - An oil tanker and a bulk carrier collided in waters between Malaysia and Singapore on Tuesday morning, spilling an estimated 2,500 tonnes of oil, but traffic in Asia's busiest shipping lane was not affected.
The Malaysian flagged MT Bunga Kelana 3 was carrying about 62,000 tonnes of light crude oil, the country's coast guard said.
A close up view shows the damage on the Malaysian flagged MT Bunga Kelana 3 after a collision with a bulk carrier in the waters between Malaysia and Singapore May 25, 2010
Singapore port authorities said the spill measured about 4 kilometers by 1 kilometer and was located 6 kilometers south of Singapore's southeastern tip at 2:20 p.m. local time.
Singapore and Malaysia activated oil-spill response companies and a clean-up operation involving 20 craft was under way. There were no reports of injuries among the 50 crew members.
The incident happened in the Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS) of the Singapore Strait, 13 kilometers (8 miles) from the tip of the island nation, the city-state's Maritime and Port Authority (MPA) said.
The spill, equivalent to about 18,000 barrels, is dwarfed by the approximately 175,000 barrels of oil that has poured into the Gulf of Mexico since the deadly April 20 offshore explosion that sank the Deepwater Horizon rig.
It was less than a tenth the size of Singapore's worst such oil spill since the MPA was created. As much as 29,000 tonnes of heavy marine fuel oil leaked into Singapore waters from the tanker Evoikos in 1997 after it collided with the Orapin Global tanker.
"This is a relatively small amount in the general scheme of things, and it is not like the Gulf of Mexico, which is continuing to leak," said Victor Shum from oil consultancy Purvin & Gertz in Singapore.
"If it is contained within an oil retaining booms, it may not disrupt shipping traffic. There is no comparison. That one has really no limit at this stage."
In terms of the impact of Singapore's spill on the environment, Shum said: "I think certainly the concerns are there. Even if it is contained, it will take some time to clean up." The 1997 Evoikos spill took three weeks to clean up.
Singapore and Malaysia were applying oil dispersants and containment booms for the clean up, MPA said.
About 40 percent of global trade passes through the Malacca Strait between Malaysia and Indonesia's Sumatra. Singapore, the world's largest bunkering port and Asia's top oil-trading hub, lies at the southeastern end of the waterway.
The collision was between the tanker and the MV Waily, a bulk carrier registered in St Vincent and the Grenadines, which suffered minor damage, the Malaysian coast guard said. Both vessels are anchored away from the incident's site.
10-METER GASH
The collision caused a 10-meter gash on the left side of the tanker, the coast guard said. The vessel was carrying Bintulu condensate and light crude, said Paul Lovell, head of corporate communications at AET Tanker Holdings Sdn Bhd.
AET, which owns and manages the vessel, is a wholly owned subsidiary of transport and energy company MISC Bhd, a unit of Malaysian national oil firm Petronas.
"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," Lovell said.
"It looks as though the spill would have been from the very light crude, the exact amount I can't tell you." The spokesman could not say who owned the oil.
MISC on its website lists the Bunga Kelana 3 as an Aframax class tanker built in 1998 with a dead weight tonnage of 105,784. (www.misc.com.my).
(Reporting by Soo Ai Peng, Razak Ahmad, Harry Suhartono and Chun Han Wong, Writing by Alejandro Barbajosa; Editing by Ramthan Hussain )
Oil slick threatens Singapore coast after collision
AFP AsiaOne 25 May 10;
SINGAPORE (AFP) - 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 before dawn with the MV Waily, a bulk carrier registered in St Vincent and the Grenadines, Malaysian maritime officials said.
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Singapore's MPA said a total of 20 vessels from Singapore and Malaysia were involved in the cleanup effort while 200 personnel were on standby to attend to coastal areas that might be affected by the slick, the MPA said.
"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 percent 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.
Spill clean-up in full swing
Koh Hui Theng Straits Times 25 May 10;
CLEAN-UP efforts are in full swing, after an oil tanker collided with a bulk carrier off Singapore's south-eastern coast on Tuesday morning.
The collision spilled 2,500 tonnes of crude oil into the sea, leading to a 4km by 1 km oil slick floating 6km from Changi East.
The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) said 20 craft from the Singapore, Malaysian authorities and oil-spill response companies were involved in the clean-up operation.
They are equipped with dispersants that break the oil slick into smaller globules to aid biodegrading.
Another 200 people are also on standby to help with the coastal clean-up, if the need arises.
Traffic in the Traffic Separation Scheme of the Singapore Strait - one of the world's busiest shipping routes - was not affected, MPA added in a statement.
Reuters reported that the spill, equivalent to less than 15,000 barrels, is smaller than the about 175,000 barrels of oil that has poured into the Gulf of Mexico since April 20's offshore explosion, which sank the Deepwater Horizon rig.
The worst oil spill to occur in Singapore waters since MPA's formation was in 1997, when the tanker Evoikos collided with the Orapin Global tanker. Up to 29,000 tonnes of heavy marine fuel oil leaked into the waters - over 10 times more than the current spill.
The 50 crew members were not injured.
Oil spill off Singapore after vessels collide
Channel NewsAsia 25 May 10;
SINGAPORE: The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) said 2,500 tonnes of crude oil could have spilled into the sea from Tuesday morning’s collision off the east coast.
In an update, MPA said a helicopter recce by the Republic of Singapore Air Force at 2.20pm found an oil slick measuring 4 kilometres by 1 kilometre, about six kilometres south of Changi East.
It added that as of 5.30pm, more than 85 people were on site as part of containment and cleanup efforts.
A total of 20 craft, comprising five from MPA, five from Malaysian authorities and 10 from oil spill response and other companies were on site.
The response craft are equipped with 41 tonnes of non-toxic and biodegradable agents to disperse and break the oil spill into smaller globules to facilitate biodegrading by micro-organisms.
There are also 1,500 metres of containment booms to contain the oil slick and to facilitate collection by the 2 skimmers with fast tanks.
MPA is working with AET, the operator of MT Bunga Kelana 3, the tanker that was damaged and caused the oil spill to have 200 personnel on standby to clean up the coastlines should the need arise.
MPA is also working with relevant agencies like the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore, National Environment Agency, National Parks Board, Police Coast Guard and Republic of Singapore Navy.
It has alerted marinas and other water front facilities in the area to be prepared for possible impact from the oil spill.
People in the areas near the waters affected by the spill smelled something was amiss.
Many callers to the MediaCorp News Hotline said they smelled something resembling kerosene.
Most of the callers said they were in areas near the sea such as East Coast and Joo Chiat.
White-collared workers in the business district near the port at Tanjong Pagar also said something was amiss with the air from 12pm-3pm.
In a joint statement, the Marine and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and the National Environment Agency (NEA) say some of the lighter portions of the oil could have evaporated and caused a smell that was detected by some members of the public in the Changi and East Coast areas.
The smell had subsided by late afternoon.
There is no cause for alarm as NEA's monitoring has detected no toxic chemicals in the air. - CNA/vm
Collision between MT Bunga Kelana 3 and MV Waily in the Singapore Strait - Update 1
MPA media release 25 May 10;
Following the collision between the Malaysian-registered tanker, MT Bunga Kelana 3 and the St Vincents and The Grenadines-registered bulk carrier, MV Waily at about 6:03am on 25 May 2010, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) has been co-ordinating the containment and clean up efforts of the resultant oil spill.
Upon notification of the incident, MPA had immediately dispatched four patrol and emergency response craft to the affected area. MPA also activated oil spill response companies to deploy their craft.
Revised estimates from AET, the operator of MT Bunga Kelana 3, indicate that some 2,500 tonnes of crude oil could have spilled into the sea. A helicopter recce by the Republic of Singapore Air Force at 2:20pm found an oil slick measuring 4 kilometres by 1 kilometre located about 6 kilometres south of Changi East.
As at 5.30pm, more than 85 personnel were on site as part of the containment and clean up efforts. A total of 20 craft, comprising 5 from MPA, 5 from the Malaysian authorities and 10 from oil spill response and other companies were on site.
The response craft are equipped with 41 tonnes of non-toxic and bio-degradable oil spill dispersants, 1,500 metres of containment booms and 2 skimmers with fast tanks. The dispersants help to break the oil slick into smaller globules to facilitate biodegrading by micro-organisms. The containment booms are used to contain the oil slick and to facilitate collection by skimmers and fast tanks.
Beyond the efforts at sea, MPA has worked with AET to have on standby, 200 personnel to clean up our coastlines should the need arise.
In addition, MPA is working with relevant agencies such as the Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore, National Environment Agency, National Parks Board, Police Coast Guard and Republic of Singapore Navy. MPA has also alerted marinas, sea sports centres, ferry terminals and other waterfront facilities to be prepared for possible impact arising from the oil spill.
MPA has notified and is working with the Indonesian and Malaysian authorities in line with the Standard Operating Procedure for Joint Oil Spill Combat in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore (SOP). The SOP is part of the trilateral arrangement among the three littoral states of Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore known as the Revolving Fund Committee (RFC). The RFC meets annually to discuss issues relating to oil spills and to update the SOP.
Efforts to contain and clean up the oil spill are ongoing. The oil spill and the containment and clean up efforts have not affected traffic in the Traffic Separation Scheme of the Singapore Strait.
Further details will be released 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
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