Several beaches here had to be cleaned up yesterday after an oil spill from the collision between two vessels in Johor on Tuesday night reached mainland Singapore.
The beaches along Singapore's north-eastern coast were found stained black on Wednesday night, said the National Environment Agency (NEA). They included Noordin beach at Pulau Ubin and Changi beach.
Yesterday, NEA contractors at Changi beach were seen bringing up absorbent material stained with oil onto a vessel, while workers packed oil-stained sand into trash bags. They also put up signs saying the beach was closed.
The collision happened off Pasir Gudang Port in Johor. It caused 300 tonnes of oil spillage as a result of damage to one of the vessel's bunker tanks.
Singapore's last major oil spill was in May 2010, when 2,500 tonnes of crude oil leaked into the Singapore Strait following a collision. Last April, a storage tank containing fuel oil sprung a leak, flooding the surrounding area but stopping short of affecting the sea. The leak occurred in a facility on Pulau Busing, off the south-western coast of Singapore, west of Pulau Bukom.
