An oil spill off southern Singapore has spread to other areas of the island’s coast and is threatening a marine reserve, government agencies said, while authorities yesterday were intensifying efforts to mop up the fuel.
The oil spilled into Singaporean waters after the Netherlands-flagged dredger Vox Maxima struck the stationary Singaporean fuel supply vessel Marine Honor on Friday afternoon in the southern port of Pasir Panjang.
The collision damaged the Marine Honor, which leaked oil into the sea.
Photo: AFP
The Singaporean Maritime and Port Authority late on Saturday said in a statement that the oil leak from the vessel had been contained, and that the oil that escaped from the damaged tanker had been treated with dispersants.
However, “due to the tidal current, the treated oil has landed along shorelines including Sentosa, Labrador Nature Reserve, Southern Islands, Marina South Pier and East Coast Park,” it said.
Sentosa, which attracts millions of visitors annually, houses one of Singapore’s two casinos, golf courses and Southeast Asia’s only Universal Studios theme park.
Part of the beachfront at the public park and at the nature reserve have been closed to facilitate cleanup efforts, the statement said.
The Sentosa beach would remain open to the public, but sea activities and swimming were prohibited.
An oil sheen was also seen in the waters surrounding Sister’s Islands Marine Park, a 400,000m2 marine protected area, the statement said.
Yesterday, workers in orange suits were scooping up sand in a cleanup operation at an empty beach in Sentosa, as black water washed up on the oil-stained shore.
Authorities have deployed 18 crafts for the cleanup efforts and laid close to 1,500m of container booms, temporary floating barriers to trap the oil spill.
“More will be laid over the next few days to prevent further spread of oil onto the shore, and facilitate the recovery of the trapped oil off the affected shorelines and lagoons to prevent them from going back to sea,” the statement said.
Conservationists and biologists are monitoring the full extent of the damage on marine and wildlife.
The Straits Times reported that fishers were on alert for a spike in the number of fish deaths over the next few days.
Local conservation group Marine Stewards said that photographs have emerged showing dead fish, otters and kingfishers covered in oil slick.
Group founder Sue Ye told the Straits Times that oil spills smother and suffocate fish, birds and marine animals that have to go to the surface for air, such as turtles and dolphins.
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
Armed with 4,000 eggs and a truckload of sugar and cream, French pastry chefs on Wednesday completed a 121.8m-long strawberry cake that they have claimed is the world’s longest ever made. Youssef El Gatou brought together 20 chefs to make the 1.2 tonne masterpiece that took a week to complete and was set out on tables in an ice rink in the Paris suburb town of Argenteuil for residents to inspect. The effort overtook a 100.48m-long strawberry cake made in the Italian town of San Mauro Torinese in 2019. El Gatou’s cake also used 350kg of strawberries, 150kg of sugar and 415kg of
RSS