Two ships collided in Singapore waters at about 4am on the eve of Chinese New Year, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) said on Thursday.

The Panama-flagged container ship, NYK Themis, had collided into a barge, AZ Fuzhou, which was being towed by a tug at that time. The collision took place at East Keppel Fairway - about 4km south of Marina South.

The MPA, which said it received the report at 4.10am, said no injuries were reported and port operations were unaffected. But there was some spillage of bunker fuel as a bunker tank on the NYK Themis was damaged. Four MPA crafts and several oil-spill response companies were activated to deal with it.

MPA said the collision took place even though the NYK Themis was informed of the presence of AZ Fuzhou in the fairway by the port operations control centre before the incident. The MPA is investigating the cause of collision.