The latest joint statement issued by various agencies involved in the oil spill management operations shared that more beaches are closed to facilitate clean-up efforts.

It was issued by Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), National Environment Agency, National Parks Board (NParks) and Sentosa Development Corporation on Jun. 16, 2024.

According to the statement, as of Jun. 16, 1:30pm, there are no signs of oil slick within Sisters' Islands Marine Park, but oil sheen was observed in the surrounding waters.

In addition to certain affected areas at East Coast Park, Labrador Nature Reserve and Sentosa, the beaches at St John's, Lazarus, and Kusu Islands are closed.

More booms to be deployed

Close to 1.5km of absorbent booms have been deployed to various parts of Singapore's coastline, including West Coast Park which is not affected by the oil spill.

Another 1.6km of these booms will be laid over the next few days to curb the spread of oil onto the shore.

In addition, dispersants were used to break down surface oil into droplets to enhance biodegradation.

Oil recovery efforts at sea are ongoing. Oil Spill Response Limited (OSRL), the largest international industry-funded cooperative providing oil spill response services, is supporting the clean-up efforts, the joint statement said.

Two Current Buster systems, which are vessel-deployed floating containment and recovery devices, will be deployed by OSRL.

No oil slick has been reported in the Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS) of the Singapore Strait as of 1:30pm.

Navigation traffic at TSS and port operations remain unaffected.

Over 250 personnel involved, 1,500 signed up to volunteer

A total of over 250 personnel, including over 50 professional workers from OSRL, 50 NParks officers, cleaners and other officers were deployed to support the clean up efforts.

The statement also updated that over 1,500 people have signed up to volunteer to help out with the clean-up as of this afternoon (Jun. 16).

Volunteers have been deployed to West Coast Park to monitor the situation for early alert, as well as East Coast Park for beach patrol to advise members of the public to stay away from affected oil spill sites.

Due to the "overwhelming" response and the nature of clean-up operations, NParks will not be able to activate everyone who has signed up to volunteer.

The statement also added that MPA is working with British Marine, the insurer of the stationary tanker, Marine Honour, to set up a third party claims contact to attend to affected parties.

For claims-related inquiries, you may contact [email protected].

Top photos from Serfly Giri/Facebook and Desmond Lee/Faceboo