SINGAPORE: Waters off the coast of Singapore port have witnessed third collision of ships in two weeks as in the latest incident a ship collision has spilled some 80 metric tonnes of bunker fuel in the port, the Maritime and Port Authority (MPA) of Singapore said in a statement.
The Authority said that it had received a report of the collision of the departing Liberia-flagged container ship Hammonia Thracium and the Panama-flagged chemical tanker Zoey in the Singapore Strait, off Sebarok Island, about 10 km south of the city state on Monday afternoon.
The Hammonia Thracium reported damage to one of its bunker tanks, resulting in spillage of some 80 metric tonnes of bunker fuel. Upon notification, MPA immediately dispatched four patrol crafts to deal with the spillage. Oil spill response companies have also been activated to support the clean-up efforts, the statement added.
The two vessels are currently in stable condition outside of Singapore’s port limits and are assessing their situation. There is no report of injury, and port operations were unaffected. Prior to the incident, MPA’s Port Operations Control Centre had alerted Zoey that the Hammonia Thracium was crossing the traffic lane. MPA is investigating the cause of the collision.
This is the third collision at the port in less than two weeks. Chemical tanker Lime Galaxy collided with container ship Feihe on January 29, while container ship NYK Themis collided with barge AZ Fuzhou on January 30. The Feihe spilled about 280 metric tonnes of fuel oil, while the NYK Themis spilled about 400 metric tonnes of fuel oil as a result of the collisions, the MPA statement added.
