Authorities Race to Clean Oil Spill as Luxury Beach in Singapore Becomes Coated in Slick

By: C. Paixão

According to the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), oil leaked into the city-state’s seas in the afternoon of Friday the 15th of June, when a Singapore-flagged bunker vessel, Marine Honour, was struck by a Netherlands-flagged dredger, Vox Maxima.
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As of Saturday, the oil spill from the vessel has been controlled and treated with dispersants; nevertheless, the MPA reported that some of the treated fuel spread because of the tidal currents. On the 17th of June, it was reported that the oil spill had reached the country’s popular luxury hotels, golf courses, and Universal Studios Singapore, spreading from the busy Pasir Panjang Terminal cargo port, which is less than 10 kilometres away from the Sentosa, the country’s popular resort island.

The spill began at the start of the Great Day of Sacrifice holiday weekend, also known as the Hari Raya Haji in the Muslim culture when it was expected that visitors and residents would gather at Sentosa and other landmarks. The holiday is characterised by a Muslim festival that celebrates compassion, generosity, and spiritual fulfilment, prioritising these values over material extravagance.

Photos of oil-soaked birds and shorelines were shared with news outlets and on social media by the Marine Stewards, a local conservation group, even though the extent of the spill's environmental harm is still unknown.

“There have been many cases of wildlife affected – several kingfishers, otters and monitor lizards covered in oil, seabirds whose legs are stained with oil. We have also received reports of dead fish and a dead sea snake,” said Marine Stewards founder Sue Ye in a statement to CNN.

Authorities in Singapore are stepping up efforts to clean up the disastrous incident that has reached beyond the luxury beach resort into a marine reserve and other areas of the island nation. On the 17th of June, approximately 100 workers initiated the clean-up of Sentosa’s beaches, according to a spokesperson from the Sentosa Development Corporation (SDC).

The beaches in Sentosa remain open to the public, however, water activities and swimming have been halted for the time being at Tanjong, Palawan, and Siloso beaches on the west coast of the island to ensure the safety of the tourists and residents as well as to make the clean-up as efficient as possible.

To clean up the spills, the authorities sent out skimmer boats and set about 1,500 meters of oil-absorbing booms to safeguard a mangrove-lined coastal natural reserve.

“The oil spill is a growing environmental catastrophe that is impacting some of the region’s most important and biodiverse marine protected areas and fisheries areas,” said Heng Kiah Chun, a regional campaign strategist for Greenpeace.

While authorities continue with efforts to clean up beaches and all contaminated areas, further reports and assessments are expected to deliver a more accurate evaluation of the scale of impact of the incident.