RI Not Affected By Oil Spill Off Singapore

Batam, Riau Island, Sept 10 (ANTARA) - Indonesian Navy patrol boats have confirmed that the country`s waters have not been affected by the oil spill resulting from a collision between a bulk carrier ship and a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) carrier ship at the Temasek Fairway in Singapore. "The accident has not had any impact on Indonesian waters, since the patrol boats have not seen any oil spill in the area," Batam navy base Commander Colonel Nur Hidayat stated here on Monday. "The collision occurred on Sunday evening (September 9), between Sunny Horizon ship and LPG carrier ship DL Salvia," he added. The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) soon received a report that Hong Kong-registered bulk carrier Sunny Horizon had collided with Korean-registered DL Salvia at Temasek Fairway, about 700 metres east of Sultan Shoal. �Most of the spill occurred at the Temasek Fairway in Singapore, so the follow-up investigation was done by the MPA, Nur explained, adding that no casualties were reported after the accident. According to an MPA press release, less than 60 tonnes of oil from DL Salvia were spilled into the sea because of the collision. "The bunker tank on DL Salvia was hit and less than 60 metric tonnes of oil was spilled," it said. �A total of seven patrol and anti-pollution craft have been deployed to clean up the spilled oil, while the two vessels are currently anchored safely at the West Jurong anchorage,� the press release added. "MPA has issued navigational broadcasts to ships to sail with caution when in the vicinity of the site of the incident," it stated.