Tanker collision in Singapore waters results in butane leak, situation contained: MPA

File photos of Singapore LPG tanker Crystal Sunrise (left) and Greece tanker Astro Saturn. PHOTOS: MARINETRAFFIC.COM

SINGAPORE - A Singapore-registered tanker collided with a Greece-registered tanker on Tuesday (April 17), the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) said.

MPA had received a report at about 2.30am from the Singapore LPG tanker, Crystal Sunrise, that it had collided with a westbound Greece tanker Astro Saturn.

Crystal Sunrise had been picking up her pilot near the designated western pilot boarding ground when the collision took place about one nautical mile south of Tuas Extension, in Singapore territorial waters.

After the collision, Crystal Sunrise sustained damage to its ballast task.

The master reported that the butane the vessel was carrying had begun to leak from one of the cargo tanks.

The ship's crew stopped the leak. Astro Saturn sustained damages to its port anchor and bow. Both ships have since been stabilised.

An estimated 1,796MT of butane gas had leaked, MPA said.

As liquefied butane has a high evaporation rate, MPA assessed that any leaked butane would have been carried southward, away from mainland Singapore, where most of it would have rapidly dissipated to below flammable levels within an hour.

No risk was posed to shipping, and no injuries were reported on both tankers, MPA said.

As a precautionary measure, eight PSA Marine staff who were in the area of the collision received medical check-ups at the National University Hospital, and all of them have since been discharged.

MPA is investigating the incident.

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