Oil spill clean-up expected to take a week

Authorities anticipate it will take a week to clean up the oil that spilled following Tuesday's collision of two container vessels in the eastern part of the Johor Strait near Pasir Gudang Port.

The Johor Port Authority (LPJ), in a statement today, said how quickly the clean-up could be done was also dependent on the weather and the water currents.

It said the oil spill did not affect the people in the area, including fishermen.

"The spill also has not affected the private jetties as well as the Sultan Iskandar Power Station," it added.

LPJ said the port was operating as usual but vessels could experience delay when berthing at the Container Terminal due to the work to control the oil spill.

Singapore-registered MT Wan Hai 301 collided into Gilbraltar-registered MT APL Denver which was anchored at the port, at about 11pm on Tuesday.

LPJ said quick action by Johor Port Bhd, with the cooperation of agencies in the Pasir Gudang Oil Spill Task Force as well as LPJ, Department of Environment, South Region Marine Department and the Port of Tanjung Pelepas, managed to prevent the spill from spreading over a wide area.

It said the Singapore authorities also took swift action to check the spill in the republic's waters.

"The collision caused oil to spill from MT APL Denver which had the capacity to carry 300 tonnes of Marine Fuel Oil," it said.

No one was injured in the incident. - BERNAMA