Oil leak from police facility prompts inspection of all fuel pipes at other coast guard bases

SINGAPORE – All fuel pipes at the Police Coast Guard’s (PCG) three other bases are also being checked for leaks, following the

Feb 5 oil leak incident at its Brani Regional Base,

the police told The Straits Times.

The incident led to the inspection of all fuel pipes at Brani Regional Base on Feb 6. Fuel pipes at the other three bases – at Loyang, Lim Chu Kang and Gul – are also being checked, with inspections expected to be completed on Feb 10.

The police were responding to queries from The Straits Times on the oil leak incident, which resulted in 23 tonnes of diesel oil leaking into the waters south of Singapore from the Brani Regional Base on Feb 5.

The oil leak was discovered at 11.40am on Feb 5 and “isolated” at about 3.40pm the same day, the authorities said in a statement on Feb 6.

Patrol craft and spill response resources to clean up small patches of light oil sheens were deployed, said the Singapore Police Force, Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and National Environment Agency in a joint statement at around 8.30pm.

The authorities had said in the statement that there were “no oil slicks observed”, although they acknowledged that an oily sheen could be seen in some areas. Paddlers at Sentosa reported paddling through oil on the morning of Feb 6.

In response to ST’s queries on why it took over 24 hours for the public to be alerted to the leak, the police laid out the sequence of events that took place once the leak was detected.

At around 11.40am on Feb 5, a “small intermittent leak” of marine diesel from one of the fuel pipes occurred at Brani Regional Base, the police said.

“Checks by base personnel and a contractor were subsequently deployed at around 12.25pm and 1.40pm,” they added.

But no further leaks were detected then, and there was no observable oily sheen on the water, they said.

Just before 3.30pm on Feb 5, however, MPA observed patches of oil sheen on the waters of Selat Sengkir, the body of water south of the coast where Brani Regional Base sits, and alerted the PCG to conduct checks.

“A contractor found that the pipe was leaking again. The pipe was assessed to be damaged and the fuel valve was isolated at 3.40pm to prevent further leakage,” the police said.

“PCG confirmed the leak to MPA at 5.50pm, after verifying the amount of diesel that had been lost from PCG’s fuel tank,” added the police spokesman.

The police said: “The preliminary assessment is that the leak might be caused by a damaged fuel pipe with micro cracks, as a result of repeated twisting of the pipe due to the movement of the pontoons caused by tidal changes.”

The police spokesman added that the fuel pipes are maintained monthly, with the latest check conducted on Jan 17, and the next check scheduled for the week of Feb 10.

This is at least the fifth incident since June 2024 involving oil spilling or leaking into Singapore’s waters.

Recent incidents of oil spills or leaks in Singapore’s waters

June 14, 2024

Fuel leaked into the sea following an allision between the Netherlands-flagged dredging boat Vox Maxima and Singapore-flagged bunker vessel Marine Honour at Pasir Panjang Terminal.

Tonnes spilled: 400

Type of oil: Bunker fuel

Oct 20, 2024

Oil leaked from a land-based Shell pipeline between Bukom Island and Bukom Kecil.

Tonnes leaked: 30 to 40

Type of oil: “Slop” – a mixture of oil and water

Oct 28, 2024

Oil flowed into the sea during a bunkering operation between a Bahamas-flagged bulk carrier and a bunker tanker off Changi.

Tonnes spilled: Five

Type of oil: Bunker fuel

Dec 26, 2024 

Refined oil products from a processing unit at Shell Energy and Chemicals Park leaked into the waters off Bukom Island, prompting Shell to shut down the unit temporarily

Tonnes leaked: Unknown, determined to be “minor”

Type of oil: Refined oil products

Feb 5, 2025

Oil leaked from a damaged shore fuel hose at Brani Regional Base, which is used to refuel patrol craft.

Tonnes leaked: 23

Type of oil: Diesel oil