Tanker Collision Spills 2,000 Tons Oil off Singapore (Update2)

May 26, 2010

May 25 (Bloomberg) — A tanker collided with a bulk carrier off Singapore’s southeastern coast, spilling 2,000 metric tons of crude oil near the world’s busiest port.

The MT Bunga Kelana 3 tanker collided with the MV Waily at about 6:10 a.m. local time in the Singapore Strait, 13 kilometers (8 miles) southeast of Changi East, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore said in a statement. About 140,000 vessels call at Singapore each year, it said on its website. The city-state is also Asia’s biggest center for oil storage and bunkering.

“If you have an oil spill in a harbor, a populated area, it’s going to cause some concern,” said Stuart Traver, a downstream adviser at energy consultants Gaffney, Cline & Associates Ltd. in Singapore. “Two thousand tons of oil is not small — most environmental organizations get upset about even smaller slicks.”

The spill is equivalent to 14,660 barrels or 616,000 U.S. gallons, almost enough to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool. BP Plc estimated a damaged Gulf of Mexico oil well has been leaking 5,000 barrels a day since an April 20 explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, which killed 11 workers. Independent scientists have told the U.S. Congress crude oil was coming out at more than 10 times the estimate.

Vessels Anchored

The two ships remain anchored in the Singapore Strait, the Maritime and Port Authority statement said. “Work is ongoing to contain and clean up the oil spill.”

AET Tanker Holdings Sdn., the owner of the Bunga Kelana 3 and a unit of Malaysia’s MISC Bhd., is working to “minimize the damage from the oil that’s leaked,” said Paul Lovell, a spokesman for AET Tanker.

“A number of oil-retaining booms have been deployed,” Lovell said by telephone. “These were done by specialist companies retained by the company. We’re doing all we can. There were no casualties on Bunga Kelana 3. We had 27 crew on the vessel.”

The Malaysia-flagged Bunga Kelana 3, classed as a Long Range 2 tanker, was built in 1998 with 12 cargo tanks, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. It has a double hull, a design meant to prevent oil leaks or flooding beyond the outer compartment.

The vessel is sitting in 11.4 meters of water, compared with its draft of 14.9 meters, based on transmissions captured by AISLive on Bloomberg. This indicates it’s fully laden.

“At this stage, the impact could be relatively mild,” Traver said. “It’s not the same of course as a spewing oil well which won’t stop — presumably this is it, this is over.”

Treasure Marine Ltd. is the beneficial owner of the Waily, Bloomberg data showed. The 25,449-deadweight ton vessel, flying a St. Vincent & The Grenadines flag, was built in 1983.

By Yee Kai Pin and Jane Lee Boomberg Businessweek 25 May 10; Editors: Clyde Russell, Ang Bee Lin.

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