Suspected oil leak at Shell facility on Bukom Island

SINGAPORE – British petrochemical giant Shell has shut down one of its oil processing units on Bukom Island to investigate a suspected leak, and has informed the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and the National Environment Agency (NEA), the authorities said on Dec 27.

The oil processing unit, located at the Shell Energy and Chemical Parks, is used to produce refined oil products such as diesel, said MPA, NEA, the National Parks Board (NParks) and Sentosa Development Corporation (SDC) in a joint release on Dec 27.

Water drawn from the sea is used to cool the refined oil products in the unit.

Shell estimated that a few tonnes of the refined oil products were leaked – together with the cooling water discharged, the agencies said.

This leak came after more than 30 tonnes of slop – a mixture of oil and water – were leaked into the sea between Bukom Island and Bukom Kechil from a land-based Shell pipeline on Oct 20. Shell is still under probe for taking more than seven hours to notify the authorities about this incident.

Following the latest leak, Shell has laid containment and absorbent booms, as well as sprayed dispersants in the channel where the cooling water is being discharged, the agencies said. The in-built oil skimmer system in the channel was also activated.

No oil patches are currently observed in the vicinity of Bukom Island, the agencies said.

MPA and Shell have deployed cleaning boats to clean up light oil sheens observed off Bukom Island, using both dispersants and absorbent booms.

[[nid:706418]]

The agencies are closely monitoring the situation, and have deployed satellites and drones for surveillance.

“As a precaution, oil absorbent booms will be laid at Sisters’ Islands Marine Park and at the beaches on Sentosa,” they added.

Navigational traffic in the area is not affected, and there is no impact to bunkering operations in the Port of Singapore.

“NEA is investigating the incident with MPA and will not hesitate to take enforcement action if any wrongdoing or lapse is discovered,” the agencies added.

In the Oct 20 incident, Shell said the oil from its land-based pipeline spilt into a holding area but some overflowed into the water channel between Bukom Island and Bukom Kecil.

The leak started at about 5.30am on Oct 20, with MPA alerted at about 1pm.

At about 3pm, the leak was stopped, and clean-up operations were completed on Oct 29.

On Oct 28, another spill took place off Changi, when five tonnes of oil flowed into the sea during a bunkering operation between a Bahamas-flagged bulk carrier and a bunker tanker.

Earlier in June, Singapore saw its worst oil spill in a decade after more than 400 tonnes of oil leaked into nearby waters when a dredging boat hit a stationary bunker vessel at Pasir Panjang Terminal.

Oil slicks spread to the waters near Labrador Nature Reserve, Sentosa, East Coast Park, the Southern Islands and Changi.

The massive clean-up efforts – which involved 800 cleaning personnel and 2,300 volunteers – officially wrapped up in September.

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.