Clean-up efforts on after oil leak affects fish farms, beaches and wetlands

Several fish farms in the East Johor Strait, as well as the Chek Jawa Wetlands and the beaches in Changi and Pasir Ris have been affected by an oil spill.

- Elaine Lee, Zachary Lim and Joakim Kang

This follows an oil leak at the Langsat Terminal near the mouth of the Johor River on April 3.

The leak has since stopped, with clean-up operations at the shipping terminal also ongoing, according to a joint statement early on April 4 by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), National Environment Agency (NEA), Singapore Food Agency (SFA) and National Parks Board, citing the Johor Port Authority.

In a separate statement on April 4, Malaysia's Department of Environment said about 1.6 cubic m of very low sulphur fuel oil was spilled into the sea from a leak in the pipe from a tank at the terminal to a ship there.

This is the same type of oil that was released into the sea after the Netherlands-flagged dredging boat Vox Maxima hit the Singapore-flagged bunker vessel Marine Honour on June 14, 2024. That incident saw 400 tonnes of the fuel being discharged into the sea.

With MPA's support, SFA is working with affected fish farms on reducing the impact of the oil sheen observed there, said the four Singapore agencies and national water agency PUB in a joint update on the afternoon of April 4. SFA is also providing other fish farms with absorbent pads, among other measures, to help prevent the leaked oil from affecting them.

"As a precautionary measure, SFA is also testing seafood from farms in the East Johor Strait and imported seafood," the latest joint statement said.