Portions Of Beaches At Kusu And St John Islands Affected By Oil Spill

NEA advisory undated

1 Members of the public are advised to stay away from portions of beaches on Kusu and St John Islands and to avoid primary contact activities such as swimming, water-skiing and wakeboarding in the waters affected by the oil spillage caused by the collision of two oil tankers of “NYK Themis”, a container ship, and “AZ Fuzhou”, a barge, at East Keppel Fairway some 4km south of Marina South on 30 January.

2 200 metres of the beach at Kusu Island, north of Lagoon no. 1, and 100 metres of the beach at St John Island, north of the jetty, are closed until further notice to facilitate beach clean-up works in the area. Signage has been put up at the affected stretches to advise members of the public to avoid the area.

3 The National Environment Agency (NEA) will continue to monitor the water quality of the affected beaches and will inform the public when the affected beaches are free from oil pollution and are re-opened.

4 For more information and updates on the clean-up operation, visit the NEA website (www.nea.gov.sg), NEA Facebook (www.facebook.com/NEASingapore) or follow us on Twitter (@NEAsg).


Avoid beaches on Kusu and St John's Islands due to oil spill
Channel NewsAsia 4 Feb 15;

SINGAPORE: The public is advised to stay away from portions of beaches on Kusu and St John's Islands.

The waters there are affected by the oil spill from a recent collision of two oil tankers at East Keppel Fairway, south of Marina South.

As a result, the National Environment Agency (NEA) said 200 metres of the beach at Kusu Island and 100 metres of the beach at St John's Island are closed until further notice.

This is to facilitate the cleaning up of the beaches.

NEA said it will continue to monitor the water quality, and will inform the public when the beaches are re-opened.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) said there have been significant improvements to Singapore's port waters, except for minor oil patches in the vicinity of the Southern Islands, and a few patches of oil at Pulau Seringat shoreline.

MPA said it will continue to work closely with the NEA and the Sentosa Development Corporation on the clean-up operations.

MPA is monitoring the situation in case there are undetected patches of oil.

Members of the public who spot any oil patches in the waters or coastlines can also contact MPA's 24-hour Marine Safety Control Centre at 6325-2488/9.

Vessel traffic in the Strait of Singapore and port waters remain unaffected. Port operations are also not affected.

- CNA/ac/gn

Oil spill reaches some beaches on Kusu, St John’s islands
Today Online 4 Feb 14;

SINGAPORE — The oil spill that resulted from a collision off Marina South last Thursday has affected portions of the beaches on Kusu Island and St John’s Island, and the National Environment Agency today (Feb 4) advised the public to steer clear of the affected beaches.

The NEA also advised the public to avoid swimming, water-skiing and wakeboarding in the waters affected by the spill.

About 200 metres of the beach at Kusu Island, north of Lagoon No 1, and 100 metres of the beach at St John’s Island, north of the jetty, have closed until further notice to facilitate clean-up works in the area.

Signs has been put up at the affected stretches to advise members of the public to avoid the area.

The NEA said that it will continue to monitor the water quality of the affected beaches and will inform the public when the affected beaches are free from oil pollution and are re-opened.

Updates and the clean-up operation can be found at www.nea.gov.sg or through NEA’s Facebook page (www.facebook.com/NEASingapore) and Twitter account (@NEAsg).

The spill resulted from a collision between the container ship NYK Themis and barge AZ Fuzhou in the East Keppel Fairway about 4km south of Marina South last Thursday, Jan 30. The MPA said that it was informed of the incident at 4.10am on that day.

Oil spill reaches Kusu, St John's isles
MyPaper AsiaOne 5 Feb 14;

These bags at St John's Island yesterday are filled with oil-slicked sand.

SINGAPORE - An oil slick off the coast of Marina South has reached Kusu and St John's islands, affecting large stretches of beaches on both islands.

The National Environment Agency issued a statement yesterday warning the public to stay away from the affected locations.

It also advised the public to avoid "primary contact activities" such as swimming, waterskiing and wakeboarding in the areas.

About 200m of the beach at Kusu Island, north of Lagoon No. 1, and 100m of the beach at St John's Island that is north of its jetty are closed for clean-up works.

On Thursday, the container ship NYK Themis and the barge AZ Fuzhou collided at East Keppel Fairway, about 4km south of Marina South.

NYK Themis reported that one of its bunker tanks sustained damage, and bunker fuel was spilled into the sea.

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore dispatched four boats to deal with the spill, and several companies were also activated to support its efforts.