23 tonnes of diesel leaks from police facility into southern waters; oil patches seen off Sentosa
The latest incident is at least the fifth one involving oil spilling into Singapore's waters since June 2024.PHOTO: ST FILE
SINGAPORE – About 23 tonnes of diesel oil leaked from the Police Coast Guard Brani Regional Base in southern Singapore into surrounding waters on Feb 5.
In a joint statement, the Singapore Police Force, Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and National Environment Agency said on Feb 6 that the oil leak was discovered at 11.40am on Feb 5 and "isolated" at about 3.40pm the same day.
They said that about 23 tonnes of oil had leaked from a damaged shore fuel hose used to refuel patrol craft at Selat Sengkir.
This is at least the fifth incident involving oil spilling into Singapore's waters since June 2024.
The authorities said "there were no oil slicks observed", but added that an oily sheen could be seen in some areas.
Members of the public told The Straits Times they saw patches of oil in the waters off the resort island of Sentosa.
Mr Sirius Ng, an outrigger paddler with the Singapore Paddle Club, told ST that he saw patches of oil off the entire south-western coast of Sentosa, from Tanjong Rimau to Tanjong Beach, on Feb 6 from around 6.45am to 8am.
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"I was out paddling off Sentosa in the morning. The spill was quite extensive," he said. "Everyone that was out this morning had to paddle through it on our outrigger canoes and surfskis."
He added: "We noticed the smell before we visually confirmed that we were paddling in oil as it was dark when we first set off... The oil made it difficult to grip our paddles due to its greasiness, and we had to wash our canoes thoroughly after training."
The authorities said that navigational traffic in the area was not affected and there was no impact to operations in the Port of Singapore.
"The Police Coast Guard and the MPA have deployed patrol craft and spill response resources to clean up small patches of light oil sheens observed in our southern waters. Contractors have also been activated to support the operation," they added.
In response to queries from ST on Feb 6, a Sentosa Development Corporation spokesperson said: "Currently, there are no oil sightings or smell at all our beaches, and the waters of Tanjong, Palawan, and Siloso beaches remain open."
Guests can continue to use the beaches for water activities, the spokesperson said.
A Sentosa Development Corporation spokesperson said guests can continue to use the beaches for water activities.ST PHOTO: DESMOND WEE
As a precautionary measure, oil absorbent and deflective booms have been deployed around Tanjong, Palawan and Siloso beaches to safeguard the shores and marine environment.
"We are monitoring the situation closely with the relevant agencies and will provide updates on our Facebook page and website in due course," the spokesperson added.
On June 14, 2024, Singapore experienced its worst oil spill in a decade after a dredging boat hit a stationary cargo tanker in Pasir Panjang Terminal, resulting in more than 400 tonnes of oil leaking into nearby waters.
Oil slicks spread to the waters near Labrador Nature Reserve, Sentosa, East Coast Park, the Southern Islands and Changi, requiring massive clean-up efforts that lasted about three months.
More than 800 cleaning personnel and 2,300 volunteers took to the beaches before the last dredges of the oil spill were cleared in September 2024 – marked by the reopening of Tanjong Beach in Sentosa on Sept 3, 2024.
Subsequently, on Oct 20, 2024, about 30 to 40 tonnes of oil and water leaked from a land-based pipeline from the Shell oil refinery facility into the waters straddling Bukom Island and Bukom Kechil.
Shell alerted the authorities to the oil leak later that day at about 1pm – more than seven hours after the leak was found at 5.30am.
About a week after that incident, five tonnes of oil flowed into the sea on Oct 28 during a bunkering operation between a Bahamas-flagged bulk carrier and a bunker tanker off Changi.
In December 2024, a few tonnes of refined oil products produced at an oil processing unit at the Shell Energy and Chemicals Park leaked, prompting Shell to shut down the unit temporarily.
- Chin Hui Shan is a journalist covering the environment beat at The Straits Times.
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