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Parliament debate in aftermath of oil spill

During the Parliament sitting on July 2, as government leaders helming the response to the spill at Pasir Panjang Terminal delivered ministerial statements, Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu, and National Development Minister Desmond Lee responded to 40 questions on the incident, filed by 23 MPs from both sides of the political aisle. Ms Nadia Ahmad Samdin (Ang Mo Kio GRC) asked about the standard operating procedures (SOPs) for containing spills, while other MPs – including Mr Alex Yam (Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC) and Mr Edward Chia (Holland-Bukit Timah GRC) – wanted to know the estimated costs of the cleanup. On June 14, at 2.18 p.m. the 'Vox Maxima' lost engine and steering controls and slammed into the 'Marine Honour', which was berthed at Pasir Panjang Terminal. On June 15, the oil that escaped from Marine Honour had washed ashore in areas such as Sentosa and East Coast Park. It took a contractor nearly 15 hours to complete the deployment of the booms, hampered by a thunderstorm and nightfall. The response to the spill – in particular the time it took to lay containment booms around the damaged bunker vessel – came under scrutiny again in Parliament on July 2. Workers’ Party (WP) MP Louis Chua (Sengkang GRC) asked about Singapore’s required response times to oil spills of varying severity. In response, Mr Chee said it was difficult to have a precise, single number, because “every oil spill was different. In some instances, the oil may not float very far away. In some instances, it may float farther away. In some instances, the oil density makes it easier to detect because it floats on the surface. In this case, it was an added challenge because this oil has a similar density to seawater, so it could go below the surface. At several points in Parliament Chee stressed that the authorities and their contractors followed international industry practices to contain the spill. In the first instance, dispersant was sprayed to break down the spilled oil, to pave the way for cleanup efforts. The contractor T&T Salvage Asia fully deployed 200 meters of booms on June 15 at 5.15 a.m. The contractor needed more time as it had to load its vessel with heavy equipment and set about the laborious task of laying the booms amid bad weather and nightfall. Chee said T&T did its best given the circumstances, and its response time was in line with industry practices internationally. He explained that currents and waves would have carried the spilled oil away from the accident site, and hence, the booms were not meant to ring-fence the oil that has already leaked. Rather, they were to prevent further spills from the vessel, which still had vast amounts of fuel in its tanks. WP MP Gerald Giam (Aljunied GRC) asked if the booms could have been deployed more quickly. Chee replied that the practices used in response to the oil spill have been developed over the years by experts, and this is how it is done internationally, not just in Singapore but also in other parts of the world. While the minister said that there was no disagreement that faster is better, he made the point that even in the best circumstances, there would be a gap between a large oil spill and when booms are fully deployed. In this case, the challenge for the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and its contractors was in locating those patches, an effort which was also hampered by poor visibility and nightfall. They were able to do so only on the morning after the spill, when the skimmers were dispatched. Another question was whether it made economic sense to have in-house capacity to contain oil spills, instead of engaging contractors. Mr Chee said the MPA has in-house capabilities, such as vessels, for this purpose. But, given the nature of spills, the Republic wants to tackle them in two ways: - Fostering “good collaborations” with its neighbours to ensure a coordinated response during spills; and - Working with contractors who are experts in various areas, including laying booms and skimming oil. Cautioning against a binary view that everything has to be in-house, or everything has to be outsourced, he said that both is needed. One key takeaway from the debate was that it takes all hands on deck to contain an oil spill. It is impossible for the authorities to go it alone.

Lightering may take two weeks

Safety lapses have been found aboard the 'Vox Maxima'. The dredger was detained after failing a port state control inspection a day after it collided with the 'Marine Honour' off the Pasir Panjang container terminal. Singapore inspectors uncovered 13 deficiencies aboard the ship, three of which were serious enough to warrant its detention, relating to life-saving appliances, fire safety and international safety management. Other deficiencies found included structural conditions as well as oil accumulation in the engine room, but these were not deemed as grounds for detention. The rectification of these deficiencies was ongoing, with close-out being done by Bureau Veritas and Lloyds Register. The ship had suffered a sudden loss in the engine and steering control before the incident, according to initial investigations into the incident by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore. On June 25, Singapore authorities reported that it may take up to two weeks to safely lighter the remaining 800 tonnes of low-sulphur fuel oil on the 'Marine Honour' to ensure the stability of the vessel throughout the process. The tanker remained anchored off the western petroleum anchorage. The remaining fuel oil onboard from the ruptured cargo tank and its full contents onboard the vessel must be emptied before it can be towed into a shipyard for its repair. Aside from the containment booms laid around the vessel, a 35-tonne oil load Current Buster system was on station to respond to any potential leaks in the lightering process to transfer the oil to another tanker.

Oil booms laid out as preventive measure

The containment booms laid around the 'Marine Honour' at Pasir Panjang Terminal were not intended to fence in the oil that had been spilt, but rather were preventive in nature against any further spillage from the vessel, said Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat on June 24. 400 tonnes of oil have leaked into the sea on June 14. The response times by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and its contractor, T&T Salvage Asia, were in line with international industry practices. After the MPA was alerted to the incident at 2.22 p.m., the first patrol craft arrived at the site at 2.33 p.m. The patrol craft sprayed dispersants on the oil sheens after confirming that oil had spilt into the water. After the first patrol craft was deployed, MPA and its contractors sent 11 more vessels to help with spraying dispersants and monitoring oil slicks. The MPA also ensured the crew were safe and no further oil would be spilt after the initial gush, and confirmed the vessel would not sink. The authority then activated T&T, whose boss was contacted at 2.55 p.m. to lay booms around the site. Night-time conditions and bad weather were among the reasons cited for why it took longer to deploy the booms. T&T finished laying 200 meters of booms around Marine Honour on June 15 at 5.15 a.m. During this time, a significant amount of the oil had been spilt into the sea to be carried by tidal currents and waves to other locations away from the incident site. The containment booms could help to catch some of the oil that remained near the incident site and did not float elsewhere. In all, more than 3,400 meters of booms have been laid to help contain trapped oil from flowing back into the sea, and prevent oil remnants from being washed ashore and into Singapore’s inland canals. 1,500 meters of booms were deployed at the three beaches on Sentosa island, the entrance of Keppel Bay Marina, off Labrador Nature Reserve, East Coast Park and West Coast Park as of June 17. Report with photo and video: https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/transport/booms-around-damaged-vessel-preventive-and-not-to-fence-in-spilt-oil-chee-hong-tat