Oil spill cleanup underway in Singapore after ship collision

SINGAPORE’S port authorities are dealing with an oil spill that occurred after one vessel collided with another at the Pasir Panjang Terminal on Friday (Jun 14).

The incident took place between Netherlands-flagged dredger Vox Maxima and Singapore-flagged bunker vessel Marine Honour, according to a statement from the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) late Friday. The latter was berthed at the terminal at the time. 

The collision, which MPA said took place around 2.20 pm on Jun 14, resulted in oil from a cargo tank on Marine Honour spilling into the water. Oil spill response craft were sent to the location and a cleanup operation was underway as of 6 pm that evening.

While MPA said the affected cargo tank has been isolated and the spill contained, video clips shared on social media showed black oil being washed up and coating a large part of one Singapore beach. Bloomberg News was not immediately able to verify the contents of the video.

MPA said there was no impact to navigational safety or berthing operations. BLOOMBERG