SINGAPORE: While several beaches in Singapore have been largely cleared of oil following an oil spill last week, Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat said on Thursday (Jun 20) that it will still take “some time” before the oil is completely removed.
In a joint statement on Thursday, Singapore’s authorities said clean-up efforts by the National Environment Agency (NEA) are progressing well at East Coast Park and a “large majority” of oil deposits on the beach had been removed.
The beaches at Tanah Merah have also been largely cleaned up, while the beaches on three Singapore islands – St John’s, Lazarus and Kusu – as well as a “large majority” of Sentosa’s Siloso beach have been cleared of oily sand, they added.
In a Facebook post, Mr Chee noted the progress made in the clean-up, saying: “Currently, we are focused on cleaning up the oil slicks and sheens from water and land which are visible through drone surveillance and satellite imagery.
“In the next phase, we would need to flush out stranded oil, such as those on oil-stained rock bunds … The clean-up operation will take some time, and I would like to seek the understanding of members of the public and businesses who are affected by this incident.”
On Jun 14, oil washed up along the coast of a number of beaches in Singapore after a Netherlands-flagged dredger, Vox Maxima, hit Singapore-flagged bunker Marine Honour at Pasir Panjang Container Terminal (PPT).
This caused one of the oil cargo tanks on Marine Honour to rupture, spilling about 400 tonnes of low-sulphur fuel into the sea. The resultant oil spill that spread to several coastlines and stained the sand black was not caused by port congestion, Mr Chee said on Tuesday.
CLEAN-UP EFFORTS
The Maritime and Port Authority (MPA), NEA, the National Parks Board (NParks), Singapore’s national water agency PUB, the Sentosa Development Corporation (SDC), the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) and the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) on Thursday gave an update on the ongoing clean-up efforts.
They noted that while the beaches at East Coast Park and Tanah Merah have been largely cleaned up, more efforts would likely be required as the tides may continue to sweep in remnants of oil deposits.
The thorough cleaning of the oil-stained rock bunds facing the lagoon at Sentosa’s Siloso beach will also start soon. As for Sentosa’s Palawan and Tanjong beaches, clean-up efforts are ongoing, with more focused cleaning planned after the clean-up at Siloso beach is completed.
The deployment of containment booms off the three Sentosa beaches have been completed, the authorities said.
“While the beaches remain open and island businesses are operating as per normal, sea activities and swimming are not permitted,” they added.
