Malaysia: New oil spill detected off Tanjung Balau

Mohd Sabran Md Sani New Straits Times 3 May 19;

KOTA TINGGI: Another oil spill, estimated to weigh 60 tonnes, was detected in the waters off Tanjung Balau here on Thursday evening.

Southern Region (Johor) Marine Department assistant marine officer Roslee Ibrahim said the new oil spill was captured via satellite, and the images were forwarded by a United Kingdom-based non-governmental organisation.

“The oil spill was detected at 7pm yesterday (Thursday).

“The matter was relayed to the Johor Marine Department director Dickson Dollah at 8pm.

“The images showed that the oil spill is located about three nautical miles off Tanjung Balau,” said Roslee.

He added that a response team on board the At Tair vessel had left Gelang Patah at 9am today to monitor the situation.

“The vessel with 12 crew members is expected to arrive at the location at about 3 pm,” said Roslee.

He added that the department had yet to receive any reports from local fishermen on the oil spill.

An investigation is being carried out to identify the culprits.

On April 20, the department spotted a one kilometre-long oil spill in the same waters off Tanjung Balau.

Following the discovery, the vessel Al Nilam was dispatched from Tanjung Pengelih to carry out cleaning operations.

The pollution from the oil spill affected the livelihoods of about 50 fishermen in the Tanjung Balau area.

Oil spill detected off Tanjung Punggai; cleanup underway
Mohd Sabran Md Sani New Straits Times 5 May 19;

KOTA TINGGI: Another oil spill measuring 1.9 kilometres long was spotted about 4.5 nautical miles off Tanjung Punggai here during the Balau Oil Spill Response Ops 2 (OSR Balau 2) in the waters off Tanjung Balai this afternoon.

Johor Marine Department director Dickson Dollah said the oil spill, which is about 60 metres wide, was found by the monitoring teams on board the Al Nilam and At Tair vessels at 12.25 pm.

"Following the discovery, cleaning operations commenced with the spraying of chemical dispersants," said Dickson when contacted.

He added that both vessels had been put on standby to conduct the monitoring and cleaning operations since 7am.

"We have also received additional oil spill response equipment (OSRE) from the Marine Department base involving seven barrels of chemical dispersants," said Dickson.

According to him, the Al Nilam vessel is tasked with monitoring between 1.5 and three nautical miles from the beach of Tanjung Balau to Tanjung Penyusop, while At Tair monitors the area between three to five nautical miles from the beach to Pulau Mugging.

"The distance monitored is the same as in the second day, which is 67.5 nautical miles."

Dickson said during the operation, the weather was cloudy with winds between 20 to 25 knots and waves between two and three metres high.

He added the operation was suspended at 5.15pm due to the poor weather condition.

"Al Nilam has also been ordered to return to the Sungai Pulai base for bunkering, and will return to the location tomorrow (May 6). Two additional crew members have also been requested to join At Tair," said Dickson.