Ships dumping waste offshore?

Letter from Vincent Kang Today Online 8 Sep 11;

I WAS taking a stroll at East Coast Park (Area C/D) on Tuesday, only to discover the horrible mess it is in: Rubbish of all sorts, including plastic bottles, Styrofoam and plastic bags line the coastline.

As I believe that many of the products on the shore are not available locally, the ships anchored in the waters between Singapore and Indonesia must be dumping their waste into the water.

Is the Maritime and Port Authority monitoring these ships?

MPA has services for waste collection at sea
Letter from Captain M Segar Group Director (Hub Port), Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore
Today Online 13 Sep 11;

WE REFER to Mr Vincent Kang's letter "Ships dumping waste offshore?" (Sept 8) and thank him for his feedback.

Under Singapore's laws, ships in our port are not allowed to dump waste into the sea.

For the convenience of ships calling at our port, the Maritime and Port Authority (MPA), through its contractor, provides free garbage collection services to all ships at the anchorages.

To check against illegal dumping, MPA's port inspectors patrol our port waters round the clock, and action will be taken against any ship that dumps waste illegally.

Notwithstanding this, garbage from outside Singapore's waters do get brought in by the currents and can wash ashore.

To help ensure the cleanliness of our port waters and coastlines, the MPA contracts five flotsam retrieval craft to monitor and remove floating debris.

Members of the public who see flotsam in our port waters can help by reporting the sighting to MPA's Marine Safety Control Centre at 6325-2488 or 6325-2489.