Malaysia: 1km oil spill detected in Tanjung Balau

NURUL AMANINA SUHAINI New Straits Times 18 Apr 19;

KOTA TINGGI: Johor Sea Department detected a one kilometre oil spill along Tanjung Balau waters here this afternoon.

Its director Dickson Dollah said the oil spill was discovered during a patrol at the area at about 3pm.

He said some of the oil spill has reached Tanjung Balau beach.

“We haven’t confirmed the type of oil yet, but it’s black in colour and we believe it’s marine fuel oil.

“We also haven’t confirmed the vessel responsible as we’ve been informed that there were no vessels at the area that could be involved in spilling the oil.

“We have informed Johor Environment Department and they will conduct a check tomorrow,” he said in a statement tonight.

Dickson said a boat from the Southern Region Sea Department has been ordered to do the clean-up and will depart from Tanjung Pengelih towards the location at 6am tomorrow.

He added that ‘Oil Spill Response’ team has also been ordered to prepare additional tools such as the absorbent boom and petrol supply to Tanjung Pengelih tonight.

“Pengerang local authority has also been informed to help with beach clean-up,” he said.


Foreign tankers dumping fuel off Kota Tinggi, says Marine Dept
Bernama New Straits Times 19 Apr 19;

JOHOR BARU: The authorities suspect foreign tankers had discharged marine fuel that resulted in an oil spill off Kota Tinggi on Wednesday.

Southern Region Marine Department director Dickson Dollah said satellite images had captured several vessels anchoring for more than two days from April 14, in the waters of Tanjung Balau and Batu Layar where the spill had occurred.

“We believe these ships could have discharged the fuel at night to avoid detection,” he told Bernama when contacted.

He said the vessels have since left the area after the incident.

Dickson said an estimated 300 tonnes of marine fuel oil had been dumped with the spill covering an area of about four nautical miles from the coast.

A clean-up operation has been launched since yesterday, he said adding that it could at least three to four days to clear the spill. -- BERNAMA


One week to clean up Tanjung Balau oil spill, says Marine Dept
Mohd Sabran Md Sani New Straits Times 19 Apr 19;

JOHOR BARU: Johor Marine Department today said it will need about one week to clean up the oil spill off Tanjung Balau waters, near Kota Tinggi.

That, according to its director Dickson Dollah, would also depend on the weather.

"Looking at the current situation, we can estimate that the clean up job will take about one week.

"If the weather permits, and the currents do not spread the spill landwards, I believe it is doable." he said when contacted.

Dickson said an Oil Spill Response Team has been deployed to the site to monitor and control the spread using absorbent booms.

"We are hoping that the monitoring and measures taken since yesterday will prevent the spill from spreading to the shores." he added.

It was reported that foreign tankers were believed to have dumped marine fuel oil that resulted in the spill.

Authorities said it was estimated that 300 tonnes of marine fuel oil had been discharged and the spill covered an area four nautical miles from the coast.


Fishermen say Tanjung Balau oil spill is the worst they have faced
Mohd Sabran Md Sani and Nurul Amanina Suhaini New Straits Times 19 Apr 19;

KOTA TINGGI: With their livelihood threatened by the recent oil spill, some 50 fishermen in Tanjung Balau and Tanjung Lompat turned to the government to seek assistance.

“This is the worst oil spill we have ever faced,” said Koperasi Sinar Tanjung Balau chairman Salahuden Abu Bakar.

The substance was also visible on the beach, posing a threat to the marine ecosystem and tourism activities in the area.

He said the rehabilitation efforts would take at least six months before the 10km spill could be cleared, affecting the livelihood of the fishermen and residents there.

This, he said, was on top of the losses they had suffered due to damaged fishing equipment including bubu (fish traps) and nets.

“A lot of the new bubu made of rotan, woods, steel wires were used as the structure design blends well with the natural landscape and made catching fish more effective compared to the old methods.

“However, the fish traps, which cost RM200 each, are now covered in black oil.

“Even if we manage to clean them there is no guarantee that they can be re-used as the strong grease scent could drive fish away,” he said when met at Tanjung Balau here on Thursday.

He said the fishermen suffered a total of RM8,000 loss due to damage of the 40 fish traps placed there.

“Each fisherman earns between RM400 and RM500 weekly. However, they are currently unable to use bubu to catch fish due to the oil spill,” he said.

Salahuden hoped that the government could assist the fishermen in obtaining compensation from the parties responsible for the incident.

Johor Marine Department on Thursday found 300 tonnes of marine fuel oil covering a distance of 10km in Tanjung Balau and Batu Layar waters, and some of the black substance reached its beach.

Following this, it informed Johor Environment Department.


Oil spill not found on second day of clean-up
remar nordin The Star 19 Apr 19;

KOTA TINGGI: The oil spill that was spotted in waters near Batu Layar and Tanjung Balau here last Wednesday (April 17) is believed to have been washed out to open waters after a clean-up team failed to find it Friday (April 19).

Southern Region Marine Department on-scene commander Roslee Ibrahim said that the second day of the cleanup operation started at about 8am on Friday (April 19) from Tanjung Balau heading towards open water.

“We covered about 8 nautical miles, starting from Tanjung Balau to Batu Layar before we headed out to Tompok Utara, which is about one-and-a-half hours away from Tanjung Balau.

“Observations of these three locations were made using drone surveillance, physical surveillance, and satellite surveillance using the APASA system,” he said when contacted here Friday.

He added that a total of 20 sacks of absorbent booms and 100 pieces of absorbent pads were used on the first day of the clean-up.

“We believe that the oil has been washed away further into the ocean and some could have evaporated into the air.

“The cleanup work on Friday is scheduled to end at 7pm due to the low light conditions and will continue again Saturday (April 20) morning,” he said.

Roslee also said 10 marine department personnel were involved in the clean-up as well as one asset.

Earlier, a local daily reported that foreign tankers were believed to have dumped marine fuel oil, resulting in the spill at about 3pm last Wednesday.

Authorities said it was estimated that 300 tonnes of marine fuel oil had been discharged and the spill covered an area four nautical miles from the coast of Batu Layar and Tanjung Balau.