Chee Hong Tat: MPA patrol vessel’s ‘lightweight’ booms unsuitable for containing oil spill on 14 June

SINGAPORE: Regarding why The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) did not immediately deploy the containment booms on its patrol vessel during the Pasir Panjang Terminal Oil Spill Incident on 14 June, Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat has finally provided an explanation, which was not disclosed in his earlier statement.

Responding to Members of Parliament (MPs) inquiries about the timeliness of the response to the major oil spill, Mr Chee explained to the House on Tuesday (2 July) that the booms on the MPA patrol vessel are lightweight oil containment booms.

These are suitable for quickly addressing small and localized oil spills, such as those occurring during bunkering operations.

“These lightweight booms were assessed to be unsuitable for dealing with the oil spill incident on 14 June, which was a more serious spill involving the sudden discharge of an estimated 400 tonnes of oil into the sea,” Mr Chee stated.

Minister Chee noted that for such significant spills, the MPA patrol vessel focuses on spraying dispersants and deploying contractors to lay heavy-duty oil containment booms around the damaged vessel as a preventive measure in case of further spillage.

He reiterated that this is the established procedure, which aligns with international practices for dealing with oil spills, and that the MPA response team on the patrol vessel followed this procedure correctly.

Concerns were raised about why the MPA did not immediately deploy the containment booms on its patrol vessel while waiting for the contractors’ vessels to arrive.

The collision between the vessels Vox Maxima and Marine Honor occurred on 14 June at 2:18 PM. The MPA was notified at 2:22 PM, and its first patrol craft arrived at the incident site 11 minutes later, at 2:33 PM.

Upon confirming that a significant amount of oil had spilt into the water, the patrol craft sprayed dispersants in the surrounding areas. Mr Chee affirmed that this needed to be done quickly so the dispersants could start breaking down the oil.

Besides the initial patrol vessel, 11 more vessels from the MPA and their contractors were deployed to perform different roles during the initial phase of the response on 14 June, Mr Chee added.

Following the initial response operations, at 2:55 pm, MPA contacted T&T Salvage Asia to deploy containment booms around the damaged bunker vessel.

Mr Chee said the team from T&T Salvage required several hours to load the heavy equipment and additional time to sail to the site. Their boat arrived at the site at 9:41 pm.

They completed laying 200m of booms around Marine Honour at 5.15 am on 15 June – nearly 15 hours after the incident.

Workers’ Party MPs advocate improving oil spill response time following delay in containment efforts

Associate Professor Jamus Lim, Workers’ Party MP for Sengkang GRC then questioned the minister on the economic sense of having in-house oil spill containment capacity versus contracting it out, given heavy traffic and significant environmental consequences.

He also highlighted the best practice response time of 2-4 hours versus the 6 hours taken in this incident.

In response, Minister Chee clarified that MPA has significant in-house capabilities and does not outsource all assets and capabilities.

He noted that the first vessel to arrive on the scene was an MPA patrol vessel and that the MPA has its own vessels deployed.

He stressed the need to work with specialized industry contractors for effective spill management.

“Some of these contractors are specialized experts. Some of them specialize in laying of booms, some of them specialize in skimming the oil, some of them specialize in some other areas.”

“It is important for us to not see this as a binary kind of situation that everything has to be in-house or everything has to be outsourced, ” Minister Chee told the House.

Minister Chee: T&T Salvage loading heavy-duty containment booms upon notification of the incident

Workers’ Party MP for Hougang SMC Dennis Tan then asked considering the time required for T&T Salvage Asia to mobilize and deploy booms, asked if the MPA would review the storage, loading, and mobilization processes of all equipment, including containment booms, to ensure reduced mobilization time.

Mr Tan also suggested considering requiring shipping terminals at locations like Pasir Panjang, Pulau Bukom, Pulau Sebarok, and Jurong Island to have containment booms and rescue vessels within easy reach for quick deployment.

Minister Chee reiterated his support for T&T Salvage Asia’s efforts, explaining that upon notification by MPA, the company had to load heavy-duty containment booms onto their vessels, which is a time-consuming process.

He acknowledged T&T Salvage Asia’s arrival at the incident site by 9:41 PM on the same day, noting challenges such as adverse weather and nighttime conditions that hampered the rapid deployment of heavy containment booms.

“I think T&T did their best and the response time was in line with
the industry practices internationally.”

WP MP Gerald Giam queries Minister Chee on timely deployment and effectiveness of containment booms in oil spills

In a supplementary question, Mr Gerald Giam, WP MP for Aljunied GRC questioned Minister Chee about the purpose and timing of deploying containment booms during oil spills.

“Does the minister not agree that the earlier the booms are deployed the better?”

“Because even if the booms cannot completely fence in the oil, they can prevent a large amount of the oil from spreading faster and this would reduce the amount of oil the reduce amount and cost or the cleanup needed.”

In response, Minister Chee again reiterated that his explanation were based on international practices developed by industry experts over years.

He emphasized that the primary purpose of deploying containment booms is to prevent further spillage from damaged vessels, rather than trying to contain already spilled oil.

The Minister highlighted the logistical challenges involved in rapid deployment despite favourable conditions, noting that oil can quickly disperse due to environmental factors.

“So there’s no disagreement in Mr Giam that speed is important, and faster is better.”

“But I also hope Mr Giam understands that even under the best circumstances, some tasks are just not possible, not practical. And in this case, it is not possible to try and fence in the oil around the damaged vessel, because it has already been spilled and it will be carried by the currents and the waves away from the location side.”

MPA’s revealed S$12.2M next-generation patrol craft project in 2020: highlights swift boom deployment capability

Back in 2020, the MPA held a joint exercise to address oil spills and revealed the next-generation patrol craft of MPA — a S$12.2 million project which was designed and built by Penguin International.

In a report by Straits Times, it was said that the next-generation patrol craft sprung into action once they reached the scene, swiftly setting up portable water booms around the “oil spill” to prevent it from spreading, and deploying spraying systems to break up the oil particles.

The exercise highlighted significant improvements in response times, with the new vessels capable of deploying booms within half an hour, compared to previous times of four to eight hours, demonstrating enhanced readiness and effectiveness in handling maritime incidents.