Minister for Transport’s Remarks for Ministerial Press Conference on Pasir Panjang Terminal Oil Spill Incident on 24 Jun 2024

1.     The unfortunate oil spill in our waters on 14 June illustrates the severity of such incidents, and the need for our agencies and industry partners to be well-prepared and to respond effectively as a team. Beyond the immediate impact at the incident site and to our waters, we are also concerned about the impact to our beaches and wildlife, and to our community and businesses.  

2.     Our agencies have been working closely with industry partners and volunteers to respond quickly to clean up the oil spill. We have also been monitoring its impact on multiple fronts and taking steps to mitigate or reduce them where possible, while developing plans for progressive recovery and resumption to normalcy.

3.     Thanks to these efforts, we have achieved good progress in dealing with the oil spill.  We have largely completed the first phase of the clean-up. 

a.     The removal of bulk oil from the sea and beaches is nearly completed. There has been no observed oil slick along the East Coast and Changi since 18 June based on both satellite and drone images. We will remain vigilant and continue to monitor our waters for oil slicks and sheens.

b.     We are now ready to transit to the next phase which involves more focused cleaning of difficult-to-reach areas at sea and on land, removing the remaining oil in the damaged bunker vessel, and working with our neighbouring countries to mitigate the impact of the oil spill on them.

c.     This next phase will take time and requires careful attention given its complexity and the risk of re-polluting affected areas.

4.     The quick response and capabilities of our agencies are due to the strong inter-agency co-operation and collaboration built up over the years. We have a well-established SOP and conduct regular oil spill response exercises every two years, involving the government agencies and our industry partners. The last exercise was conducted in 2022, with the next exercise planned for October this year.

5.     For this incident, our SOP has been effective. And our agencies, industry partners, and volunteers have done well.

6.     Today, I would like to cover two areas. First, I’ll take you through a chronology of the incident from 14 June and the steps taken by MPA in the immediate period after the incident; as well as during the first phase of the clean-up operations. Second, to share our plans going forward under Phase Two.

Chronology of events

7.     Let me begin with the chronology of events, starting from the point when MPA was notified of the allision at 2.22pm on 14 June. 

a.     Its first patrol craft arrived at the incident site 11 minutes later at 2.33pm.

b.     Upon confirming that oil had spilled into the water, the patrol craft sprayed dispersant on the observed oil sheens to treat the oil. This needs to be done quickly, so that the dispersant can start to breakdown the oil which will facilitate subsequent cleaning operations at sea and on land.  Otherwise, the oil will start to harden over time and become more difficult to remove.

c.     Besides the initial patrol vessel, 11 more vessels from MPA and their contractors were deployed to assist in the response, including through the spraying of dispersants or monitoring for oil slicks in the water.   

d.     MPA also focused on the safety of the damaged vessel to confirm that it would not sink, and conducted checks to ensure that the crew were safe and the spillage was under control. These steps were critical to prevent more oil from spilling into the sea. There was no further spillage after the initial gush which released an estimated 400 tonnes of oil into the sea.

8.     Next, MPA activated T&T Salvage Asia whose staff contacted their boss, Capt Anuj Sahai at 2.55pm to lay containment booms around the damaged vessel.

a.     As Capt Anuj has shared with the media recently, he and his team needed a few hours upon activation to load up the heavy equipment on their vessel and another few hours for their workboats to sail to the incident site.  T&T’s vessel arrived at the incident location at 9.41pm on 14 June.

b.     Despite the challenges of working at night and under bad weather conditions, T&T did well to deploy 200 metres of oil booms around the damaged vessel by working through the night.  The deployment of the oil booms was completed at 5.15am on 15 June.

c.     The steps taken by MPA and T&T, and their response times are in line with international industry practices for responses to oil spills.

d.     As Prof Shane Snyder (currently at Georgia Institute of Technology and former Exec Dir of Nanyang Environment and Water Research Institute) said during his interview with the media, Singapore’s response to the oil spill was “extremely fast”.

9.     Allow me to explain the purpose of deploying containment oil booms around the damaged vessel, as there is some misperception that these oil booms could have prevented the spilled oil from floating elsewhere and going on-shore.

a.     First, an oil spill is not like spilling coffee on the floor.  The coffee on the floor will remain there and you can use a mop to clean it up.  The oil that spills into the sea, especially when it is a sudden discharge of a large amount like what happened on 14 June, will not remain stationary at the incident site.  It will be carried by tidal currents and waves, and start to move away from the site.

b.     As I mentioned earlier, deploying the containment boom around the damaged vessel will take several hours, including the time for the vessel to arrive at the incident site and the time taken to fully deploy the booms.

c.     During this time, we must expect a significant amount of the oil that has been spilt into the sea to be carried by tidal currents and waves, to other locations away from the incident site.  This is unavoidable especially during more serious oil spill incidents, like what we experienced on 14 June. 

d.     Hence, the main purpose of the containment boom around the damaged vessel is not to “fence in” the oil that has been spilt, but as a preventive measure in case there is further spillage from the damaged vessel.

e.     The containment boom can help to catch some of the oil spill which remained in the vicinity of the incident location and did not float elsewhere.  But this is also not 100% foolproof, because the tidal currents and waves can carry the oil to go below or above the booms.

f.     Some may ask why we did not then place booms along our waterfronts and coastlines immediately to prevent the oil from washing onshore. I understand where the question is coming from, but it is not feasible to deploy booms around the entire coastline of Singapore. Deploying booms along the entire Southern coastline from Pasir Panjang to East Coast would have required more than 46km of booms. The booms, once deployed, also require regular maintenance and replacement as they are subject to weather and waves, and can snap.

g.     For effective deployment of containment booms, and to achieve optimal outcomes from our boom supplies, MPA would first need to observe the movement of the oil, to assess where the oil is resurfacing before deploying the booms accordingly.  It is targeted deployment.   

h.     MPA had therefore deployed vessels and drones to monitor surrounding waters for signs of oil, whilst alerting other agencies to step up monitoring of the coastline. MPA also used methods such as predictive modeling of the oil trajectory based on tidal current predictions and real-time weather data, as well as surveillance with satellite imagery. All this data helps to be able to see where the oil is moving, and complements what we do on the ground by monitoring by personnel on the ground and ships at sea.

i.     This targeted approach is consistent with international practice and ensures the booms available are placed where they can be most effective.

j.     It also minimises the need to redeploy booms between locations, because if you put the booms at one place and the oil flows somewhere else, we will have to redeploy the booms, and this would take up more time and resources, and reduce the effectiveness of our containment measures.

k.     We have deployed more than 3,400m of booms so far. MPA also deployed oil skimmers to collect oil observed on the water surface.

l.     While the containment and clean-up measures at sea by MPA and its contractors could not fully prevent all the spilled oil from reaching our shores, they have been effective in achieving two outcomes:

i.     First, to breakdown the oil through the quick spraying of dispersant, which facilitates the clean-up at sea and on land; and

ii.    Second, to reduce the amount of oil reaching our shores. 

10.    MPA informed agencies of the oil spillage on the day of the incident and deployed vessels to the surrounding areas. Agencies, including NEA and SDC, also actively monitored the waters and developing situation and stood ready to respond to oil drifting towards our shores. For example, SDC began to cordon off affected parts of Palawan beach at about 9.20pm on 14 June, when they first sighted oil sheens on the beach.

11.    Spilt oil started reaching our shoreline in Sentosa on the night of 14 June and progressively on the morning of 15 June. Upon observing the spread of oil in waters at Palawan, Siloso and Tanjong beaches at around 7am, SDC immediately deployed workers to commence clean-up.

12.    NEA mobilised their personnel and public cleaning service providers to carry out clean-up operations at East Coast Park, Labrador Nature Reserve and later Tanah Merah beach. NEA personnel have also supported the clean-up of Sentosa beaches since 19 June.

13.    Minister Grace Fu will share more on the progress of the land clean up in her remarks later.

Next phase of clean-up

14.    I will now touch on MOT and MPA’s plans for the next phase of our clean up. 

15.    Following MPA’s initial response to limit the immediate impact of the oil spill, most of the work has been to deal with bulk oil collection on water and land. This entailed the deployment of assets such as 4 current busters, 4 oil skimmers, and more than 3400 m of oil booms.

16.    MPA will support our fellow agencies on the continued cleaning up and progressive reopening of our beaches and waterfront areas.  Minister Grace Fu and Minister Desmond Lee will share more about these plans.

17.    The oil spill situation remains dynamic. Even with the bulk of the clean-up operations nearly completed, some oil remains dispersed within the water column. We will continue to closely monitor the situation at sea, including to watch out for oil that may resurface and flow into and affect our coastlines. This is still ongoing work.

18.    Another important task ahead is to remove the remaining fuel oil from the damaged vessel. MPA will conduct operations to safely remove the remaining fuel oil from the damaged vessel. This has to be done very carefully to ensure no further spillage. Our surveyors have completed their assessment and expect the removal operation to take about one to two weeks.

a.     In addition to the remaining fuel oil in the ruptured cargo tank, the vessel was also carrying approximately 800 metric tonnes of fuel oil in other cargo tanks that were fortunately not damaged.

b.     As the remaining fuel in the ruptured cargo tank may be contaminated, all extracted liquid cargo will be sent to CleanSeas, a licensed Toxic Industrial Waste Collector, for processing. CleanSeas will process the oil into products, which may be further processed and refined into oils of commercial value.

Cooperation with Our Neighbours

19.    Our agencies have been in regular contact with their counterparts from Malaysia and Indonesia since the beginning of the incident and we stand ready to assist.  

20.    As the Straits of Malacca and Singapore is a busy shipping channel and an important source of livelihoods for our people, Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia have long standing arrangements and procedures to respond to oil pollution. We also established the Revolving Fund Committee in 1981 to enable quick response to such incidents which could happen in our waters or it could happen in the waters of others.

Ongoing Investigation

21.    Investigations into the incident are ongoing. Preliminary findings showed that the allision was caused by the dredger experiencing sudden loss of engine and steering controls. The allision was not due to port congestion as our port waters and anchorages are not congested.

22.    MPA, as the port state, is coordinating closely with their Dutch counterparts, the flag state of the dredger involved, to carry out the investigation. The ship masters and crew of the vessels involved are fully cooperating with investigations, and the dredger will remain in Singapore’s waters until the investigation is completed.

23.    The costs of measures taken after the spill, resulting economic losses and environmental damages arising from the contamination can be assessed for claims.

a.    In accordance with international and local laws, the owner of the bunker vessel MARINE HONOUR has strict liability for the incident.

b.     This means that it is liable, even if it is not at fault, for the pollution damage caused by the oil spill from its tanker.

c.     Their insurer, British Marine, has thus set up a third party contact to receive claims from affected parties.

d.     The owner of MARINE HONOUR retains the right to take recourse action against third parties for its pollution liability.

24.    Please allow me to say a few words in Mandarin.

25.    事发后，各政府机构和业界伙伴和志愿者紧密合作，联手清理油污。我们也迅速采取行动，尽量减少油污的影响，同时制定计划，让各方面逐步地恢复正常。

26.    我们取得良好的进展：第一阶段的清理工作已大致完成，我们正进入下一阶段的工作。

a.    根据卫星和无人机的影像，在6月18日以来，东海岸和樟宜海岸已无浮油。但我们将继续保持警惕，密切地监测我们的水域。

28.    我们能迅速地应付是因为多年来建立了密切的关系，定期举行练习。我们有完善的工作流程，每两年定期的举行了漏油事故应变演习。参与者包括了政府机构与我们的业界伙伴。上一次演习是在两年前，下一次演习计划在今年10月进行。

29.    我在此要感谢我们工作团队的同事们和志愿者。他们过去十天的努力让我们取得良好的进展，我们接下来还有很多重要的工作要完成，也需要大家能够继续齐心协力，继续合作。谢谢。

30.    I will now pass on the time to Minister Grace.