About 23 tonnes of diesel leaks from police facility near Sentosa, no oil slicks observed

A diesel oil leak was discovered at the Police Coast Guard (PCG) Brani Regional Base at around 11:40am on Feb. 5.

The leak was eventually isolated at about 3:40pm on the same day, according to a joint press release by the Singapore Police Force (SPF), Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), and National Environment Agency (NEA).

No oil slicks observed

About 23 tonnes of diesel oil leaked from a damaged shore fuel hose used to refuel patrol craft at Selat Sengkir.

PCG and MPA deployed patrol craft and spill response resources to clean up "small patches of light oil sheens" observed in the southern waters.

Contractors were also activated to support the operation.

"There are no oil slicks observed," said authorities.

No impact was caused to operations in the Port of Singapore, nor was the navigational traffic in the area affected.

Sentosa beaches remain open

Sentosa Development Corporation said they are closely monitoring the incident and there are no current oil sightings or smells at Sentosa beaches.

The waters of Tanjong, Palawan, and Siloso Beach remain open, as well as its land and water activities.

The corporation also deployed a mix of oil-absorbent and deflective booms around Tanjong, Palawan, and Siloso beaches as a precautionary measure to safeguard its shores and marine environment.

Four previous oil spill incidents

There have been four other oil spill incidents since June 2024.

On Jun. 14, 2024, Netherlands-flagged dredger Vox Maxima hit Singapore-flagged bunker vessel Marine Honour at Pasir Panjang Terminal.

One of Marine Honour’s oil cargo tanks was ruptured, releasing about 400 tonnes of low-sulphur fuel into the sea.

Oil washed up along several beaches including at Sentosa Island and East Coast Park, as well as the shoreline at Labrador Nature Reserve, causing a temporary closure for some beaches.

On Oct. 20, a leak from an oil pipeline belonging to major energy company Shell occurred, where about 30 to 40 metric tonnes of oil and water mixture leaked into the sea.

The waters off Bukom Island were affected and oil spill containment measures were activated.

Another oil spill occurred on Oct. 28, 2024, at Changi during a bunkering operation between a Bahamas-flagged bulk carrier, the Ines Corrado, and a licensed bunker tanker.

The most recent oil spill occurred on Dec. 26, 2024, when oil sheens were spotted alongside a wharf at Shell on Bukom Island.

Suspected to be from one of the oil processing units, Shell temporarily shut down one of the oil processing units to investigate this leak.

The clean-up of oil sheens was completed two days later.

Top image via Ships Hub website