At 1.44 pm, MPA notified the public via a media statement that patches of oil and light sheens were observed off Pasir Panjang terminal and along Sentosa beaches. The National Environment Agency (NEA) started clean-up operations at about 10.00 am at Labrador Nature Reserve and around 4.00 pm at East Coast Park, after oil was observed along the shorelines.
Later that day, at 7.33 pm, a joint media statement was issued by the agencies to inform the public that oil had also landed along shorelines in other areas and that affected beaches would be closed to facilitate clean-up operations. The statement highlighted that the agencies were taking action to mitigate the effects of the oil spill.
MPA and our agencies had issued five media statements in the first four days of the incident to keep the public informed of the management of the incident and to address key concerns they might have. These media statements and other updates were also posted on the social media platforms of the agencies.
Mr Speaker, investigations into the incident are ongoing and preliminary findings showed that the allision was caused by the dredger experiencing sudden loss of engine and steering controls.
Some Members have asked about possible measures to prevent oil spills in future. Over the years, we have taken steps to enhance the safety of vessels and bunkering operations to minimise the risks of accidents and oil spills in our waters. We have also put in place practices such as mandatory safety training and shipboard drills for vessel crew on incident response as well as inspections for vessels in our port to ensure compliance with international safety conventions.
While we do our best to reduce the risks, oil spills may still happen in our waters or in the region. It is not possible to completely eliminate this risk. Therefore, we have prepared for and maintained our readiness to respond in a prompt, coordinated and effective manner when such incidents occur.
We have worked with industry partners to develop a contingency plan, which we rehearse and refine every two years during our inter-agency exercises for oil spills. Our standard operating procedures (SOPs) were enhanced along the way and they helped us to respond to this incident effectively. We will continue to update and improve our SOPs and contingency plans with learning points from this incident and prepare our teams to deal with oil spills effectively through training and regular inter-agency exercises.
Sir, before I conclude, I would like to, once again, express my appreciation to our agencies, our industry partners and our volunteers for their hard work and the good progress made so far. There is more work ahead to complete the next phase of the clean-up operations and to mitigate the impact of the oil spill. Let us continue to work closely together, so that we can return to normalcy as soon as possible.
Mr Speaker, with your permission, I will respond to any clarifications which Members may have, after my colleagues have made their Statements.
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