The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) on Tuesday (29 September) said it held a joint oil spill exercise at Raffles Anchorage to test inter-agency coordination and response to oil spill incidents at the Port of Singapore.
In this year’s exercise, participating agencies including the Police Coast Guard and the Singapore Civil Defence Force, implemented a contingency response plan that incorporated COVID-19 precautionary measures, said the MPA.
The exercise was supported by ExxonMobil Asia Pacific Pte Ltd, Oil Spill Response Ltd and Singapore Salvage Engineers Pte Ltd.
The exercise scenario involved a collision between two oil tankers that resulted in the rupture of two cargo oil tanks onboard the tankers, added the MPA.
In the scenario, about 10,000 metric tonnes of medium crude oil spilled into the sea.
MPA said its next-generation patrol craft demonstrated their enhanced emergency response capabilities through the use of oil containment booms and the oil dispersant spray system.
In addition, the spill response teams deployed a drone from the patrol craft to gather aerial footage as part of onsite incident management.
“Our port and shipping sectors play a critical role in keeping global supply chains going, and enabling Singapore to bring in essential goods and send our exports to the world,” said Chee Hong Tat, Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Transport and Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“It is therefore important for our agencies and industry partners to remain vigilant and respond to incidents in a well-coordinated manner.
“This is why we hold regular exercises to test our readiness and identify areas for further improvement. These are also opportunities to test new technologies and capabilities, such as the new MPA patrol craft which we launched last month.”
Photo credit: Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore
Published: 30 September, 2020
Program introduces periodic assessments, mass flow metering data analysis, and regular training for relevant key personnel to better handle the MFMS to ensure a high level of continuous operational competency.
U.S. Claims Register Summary recorded a total USD 833 million claim from a total 180 creditors against O.W. Bunker USA, according to the creditor list seen by Singapore bunkering publication Manifold Times.
Glencore purchased fuel through Straits Pinnacle which contracted supply from Unicious Energy. Contaminated HSFO was loaded at Khor Fakkan port and shipped to a FSU in Tanjong Pelepas, Malaysia to be further blended.
Individuals were employees of surveying companies engaged by Shell to inspect the volume of oil loaded onto the vessels which Shell supplied oil to; they allegedly accepted bribes totalling at least USD 213,000.
MPA preliminary investigations revealed that the affected marine fuel was supplied by Glencore Singapore Pte Ltd who later sold part of the same cargo to PetroChina International (Singapore) Pte Ltd.
‘MPA had immediately contacted the relevant bunker suppliers to take necessary steps to ensure that the relevant batch of fuel was no longer supplied. Further investigations are currently on-going,’ it informs.