Van Oord’s trailing suction hopper dredger Vox Maxima allided with a stationary Singapore-flagged bunker vessel, the Marine Honour, on 14 June. Damage to the bunker vessel has resulted in an oil spill. The Maritime & Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) states the Vox Maxima suffered a sudden loss in engine and steering control before its allision.
At the time of the incident, the Marine Honour was alongside a container vessel berthed at the Pasir Panjang Terminal. The allision took place at about 2:20 pm local time. The allision caused a rupture of one of the Marine Honour’s oil cargo tanks, and its contents of low-sulphur fuel oil were released to the sea.
Both vessels are currently anchored safely, are in stable condition, with some damage above the waterline. There is no injury reported. Some oil from the damaged cargo tank on board Marine Honour spilled into the water and has washed up on several beaches in Singapore. The affected cargo tank has been isolated and the spill contained.
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MPA investigation
The Dutch-flagged Vox Maxima had reported a sudden loss in engine and steering control before its allision with the Marine Honour. Investigations into the accident by the MPA are ongoing. The master of the vessel and its crew are currently assisting in investigations.
Van Oord states: ‘We are cooperating with the authorities’ investigations. While the investigations are ongoing, we cannot provide further substantive information in the interest of these investigations.’
Oil spill response
MPA, PSA and the bunker vessel company have activated oil spill response craft to the location. The oil spill clean-up operation is still in progress. As of 16 June 2024, at 1:30 pm, no oil slick has been reported in the Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS) of the Singapore Strait. Navigation traffic in the TSS remains unaffected. Port operations are unaffected.
From Friday evening, 14 June, oil spill from the vessel was contained with no further leaks from the vessel. The oil that escaped from the damaged tank had been treated by dispersants.
Eighteen oil spill response craft have been deployed by MPA, PSA, Singapore Salvage Engineers, Tian San Shipping, and T&T Salvage to spray oil dispersants, collect oil slicks on the water surface, and carry out containment and further clean-up efforts. MPA’s oil spill response contractor was also activated, and they mobilised oil booms, dispersants and oil skimmer to reduce the impact of the spill. MPA and its contractor also ran the oil spill prediction model and used drones and satellite imagery to assist with mitigation efforts.
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Current Buster systems
Oil Spill Response Limited (OSRL), the largest international industry-funded cooperative providing oil spill response services, is supporting the clean-up efforts. OSRL will deploy two Current Buster systems, which are floating containment and recovery devices deployed from a vessel.
It consists of a boom with a skirt that extends below the water surface to corral and concentrate the oil on the water surface. OSRL’s capabilities will be in addition to two skimmer craft deployed. The skimmer craft is a specialised vessel equipped with skimming equipment to skim and “lift” the oil off the water surface into storage tanks.
1500 metres of booms
Close to 1500 metres of container booms were deployed as of 16 June and MPA reports another 1600 metres 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.
NParks has also deployed oil absorbent booms to protect Berlayer Creek and the Rocky Shore at Labrador Nature Reserve. While West Coast Park is not affected, oil absorbent booms have also been deployed at West Coast Park to protect the mangroves at the Marsh Garden.
The MPA warns the booms are less effective when there are higher waves above 0.5 metres. Use of dispersants can help to break down the surface oil into droplets to enhance biodegradation. For treated oil with dispersants, these may be suspended in the water and be carried by tidal currents to coastlines.
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Shore line clean-up
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. There are no signs of oil slick within Sisters’ Islands Marine Park, but oil sheen was observed in the surrounding waters. To facilitate clean-up efforts, several beaches have been closed until further notice.
Ashore, the National Environment Agency (NEA), NParks and Sentosa Development Corporation (SDC) have deployed a total of over 250 personnel, including more than fifty professional workers from OSRL, fifty NParks officers, cleaners and other officers to support the beach and shoreline clean-up efforts. Over 1500 members of the public have volunteered to help with the clean-up.
Picture: The Marine Honour on 14 June after being hit by the Vox Maxima (photo by MPA).