Photo Journal of an Oil Spill Cleanup

Documentation of an Oil Spill

The Malaysian-flagged MT Bunga Kelana 3 was carrying about 62,000 tons of light crude oil, the country’s coast guard said. Singapore port authorities said the spill measured about 4 kilometers by 1 kilometer and was located 6 kilometers south of Singapore’s southeastern tip. Singapore and Malaysia activated oil-spill response companies and a clean-up operation involving 20 craft was under way. There were no reports of injuries among the 50 crew members.

A view of the damaged MV Waily, a bulk carrier registered in St Vincent and the Grenadines, after a collision with a Malaysian-flagged oil tanker in waters between Malaysia and Singapore May 25, 2010.

A close-up view shows the damage on the Malaysian flagged MT Bunga Kelana 3 after its collision with a bulk carrier in the waters between Malaysia and Singapore on May 25, 2010,

The incident happened in the Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS) of the Singapore Strait, 13 kilometers (8 miles) from the tip of the island nation, the city-state’s Maritime and Port Authority (MPA) said. The spill, equivalent to about 18,000 barrels, is dwarfed by the approximately 175,000 barrels of oil that has poured into the Gulf of Mexico since the deadly April 20 offshore explosion that sank the Deepwater Horizon rig.

Warning the public.

A storm is coming.

Oil slick along the shoreline.

Oil slick that contaminated the sand.

Workers digging up the sand to put it into the black plastic bag.

Overlooking the mess.

Rubbish that were washed up together with the oil.

Bags were left one side for collection.

Workers in action.

Close up of the dry part.

Hardworking personnel cleaning up the sand under the scorching sun for hours.

One of the longer stretch of oil clearance in East Coast Park.

More black plastic bags.

Sucking out the oil.

Overlooking the canal to see how the oil was blocked.

Materials used to soak up the oil.

Working under the bridge.

Personnel moving in line to clear the oil.

An unsung hero.

Yet another unsung hero.

One of the worst areas that required many personnel.

Another long stretch of affected area.

A workman clearing the sand.

Close up of the floating oil on the sea.

Oil rushing the shore.

Picking up the washed up rubbish from spill.

Oil waves pounding the shore.

More than 50 workers were deployed for the cleansing operations within a short time. Later 450 more workers joined to speed up the process. Sand contaminated by the oil sludge was disposed of immediately. Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore had six response craft on site to manage the spill at all time. via: Ricky Gui

It was less than a tenth the size of Singapore’s worst such oil spill since the MPA was created. As much as 29,000 tons of heavy marine fuel oil leaked into Singapore waters from the tanker Evoikos in 1997 after it collided with the Orapin Global tanker.

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