AS in any major port, the possibility of mishap cannot be ruled out. But the Maritime and Port Authority (MPA) remains committed to marine environment protection, even as it develops Singapore as a shipping hub.
Working with other agencies and industry players, MPA has contingency plans for dealing with oil and chemical spills, as well as other marine incidents and is able to deal with maritime mishaps effectively.
The Marine Emergency Action Procedure (MEAP) details comprehensive plans for the MPA, as the lead agency, to tap a large pool of resources for assistance in the event of a marine emergency. These include resources and personnel from public agencies such as the Singapore Armed Forces, the Police Coast Guard and Singapore Civil Defence Force, as well as anti-pollution vessels and equipment operated by private organisations.
The MEAP also provides details on methods of reporting and communication, and establishes clear channels of authority for effective marshalling of resources. To ensure our readiness, we conduct regular emergency exercises with other agencies, port facility operators and shipowners to test the response actions detailed in the MEAP.
Today, MPA is conducting its annual Joint Oil Spill Exercise (JOSE), which tests and validates MPA's readiness to respond to mishaps at sea. This year, the exercise involves a deployment of oil-spill response equipment by participating agencies in the sea off Raffles Lighthouse.
In our quest to keep our waters pollution-free and to provide for adequate compensation from marine incidents, provisions have been made through legislation. Singapore's statutes provide for punitive sanctions against those who flout good maritime practices, and thereby cause marine pollution, mishaps at sea or damage.
A key resource that the MPA draws on during a marine emergency is technology. For instance, our VTIS lets us track the movements of all vessels within our port in real time. This not only allows for effective command and control of all vessels involved in dealing with the emergency, it also allows us to keep an eye on other vessels in the port and to keep them clear of the affected areas, if necessary.
MPA also uses a computerised Oil Spill Prediction Model. When input with information such as the type of oil spilled, wind and current conditions are keyed in, the model is able to predict the movements of oil slicks hours and even days ahead. With such predictions, MPA can more effectively deploy resources and prioritise our actions to minimise damage and loss.
Other agencies such as the Singapore Oil Spill Response Centre (SOSRC) are also on-hand to help deal with mishaps.
'SOSRC is always on call to deal with oil and chemical spills and very often the call to respond comes directly from whichever company has had the incident. We are very well-known in Singapore and throughout the region and, in addition to ad hoc customers, we have response contracts with around 32 long-term customers to respond immediately on a 24/7 basis,' said SOSRC's manager Chris Richards.
'We have a very close relationship with the MPA and in fact are considered one of the main response service providers for this type of incident. The annual JOSE exercises are a fundamental part of the MPA's MEAP and are always beneficial in honing the response to a high state or readiness,' he added.
Mr Richards elaborated that while the actual mobilising of the response is similar in different types of incidents, the actual response methodology is very different. For example, with oil spills, there is an immediate threat to the environment, but with chemical incidents, there is potentially the added threat to the responders from the chemical itself due to toxicity, flammability and so on. With LNG and LPG incidents, there is also the threat of fire and explosion. So when deciding how to deal with any type of incident, the first priority is to minimise the risk, he reiterates.
'Singapore has a multiple risk/incidents approach; it uses the MEAP that consists of relevant agencies led by MPA,' said Ho Yew Weng, response and projects manager at Oil Spill Response and East Asia Response (OSRL/EARL).
'The MEAP prepares Singapore and the relevant agencies to respond to any form of marine emergencies. In the case of OSRL/EARL, we had been identified as a technical/response resource for an oil spill incident and co-opted to join this team. JOSE and Chemspill are exercises that involve the government agencies and industry to go through various credible scenarios,' he added.
This article was first published in The Business Times on October 17, 2008.
