THE MARITIME & Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) has announced that an oil leak reported at a Shell processing facility has now stopped.
The MPA and National Environment Agency (NEA) were informed several days ago by British oil and gas multinational Shell that it had shut down one of its oil processing units at the Shell Energy and Chemicals Park at Pulau Bukom, an island off of Singapore.
The MPA said Shell estimated that a few tonnes of refined oil products were leaked, together with the cooling water discharge.
Containment and absorbent booms were laid at the mouth of the channel by Shell, to prevent residual oil from spreading into the sea.
The MPA confirmed it and Shell deployed boats to clean up light oil sheens observed off Pulau Bukom using both dispersants and absorbent booms.
The authority has since reported the cleanup of light oil sheens off the island, which is owned by Singapore, has been completed.
The MPA confirmed it deployed three patrol craft on 27 December when Shell requested support to hasten the clean-up of the light oil sheens.
“Initial assessments on 26 December determined the scale of oil sheens to be minor, with no risk to public safety or environmentally sensitive areas, given the containment measures Shell had implemented,” the MPA said.
Authorities confirmed the leak in Shell’s oil processing unit is a different system from the company’s earlier slop pipeline leak on 20 October this year.
The port authority confirmed navigational traffic in the area is not affected, and that there is no impact to bunkering operations in the Port of Singapore.
The NEA is investigating the incident with the MPA, and authorities “will not hesitate to take enforcement action if any wrongdoing or lapse is discovered,” the MPA said.
