VOX MAXIMA

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Four crew members charged after allision and oil spill

On Nov 6, four crew members, among them the captain, of the 'Vox Maxima' were charged with not performing their duties under the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 during the oil spill that occurred from the vessel in Singapore on June 14. The cases of them have been adjourned uintil Dec 4. The dredger had suffereed a sudden loss of steering control, leading to the alision with the tanker 'Marine Honour', which was docked at the Pasir Panjang Terminal, which led to the rupture of one of the tanks, so that around 400 tons of Very Low Sulfur Fuel oil leaked into the sea. During a preliminary investigation, 13 deficiencies were identified on board the dredger, three of which being so serious that the vessel was detained until they were rectified.

Parliament debate in aftermath of oil spill

During the Parliament sitting on July 2, as government leaders helming the response to the spill at Pasir Panjang Terminal delivered ministerial statements, Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu, and National Development Minister Desmond Lee responded to 40 questions on the incident, filed by 23 MPs from both sides of the political aisle. Ms Nadia Ahmad Samdin (Ang Mo Kio GRC) asked about the standard operating procedures (SOPs) for containing spills, while other MPs – including Mr Alex Yam (Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC) and Mr Edward Chia (Holland-Bukit Timah GRC) – wanted to know the estimated costs of the cleanup. On June 14, at 2.18 p.m. the 'Vox Maxima' lost engine and steering controls and slammed into the 'Marine Honour', which was berthed at Pasir Panjang Terminal. On June 15, the oil that escaped from Marine Honour had washed ashore in areas such as Sentosa and East Coast Park. It took a contractor nearly 15 hours to complete the deployment of the booms, hampered by a thunderstorm and nightfall. The response to the spill – in particular the time it took to lay containment booms around the damaged bunker vessel – came under scrutiny again in Parliament on July 2. Workers’ Party (WP) MP Louis Chua (Sengkang GRC) asked about Singapore’s required response times to oil spills of varying severity. In response, Mr Chee said it was difficult to have a precise, single number, because “every oil spill was different. In some instances, the oil may not float very far away. In some instances, it may float farther away. In some instances, the oil density makes it easier to detect because it floats on the surface. In this case, it was an added challenge because this oil has a similar density to seawater, so it could go below the surface. At several points in Parliament Chee stressed that the authorities and their contractors followed international industry practices to contain the spill. In the first instance, dispersant was sprayed to break down the spilled oil, to pave the way for cleanup efforts. The contractor T&T Salvage Asia fully deployed 200 meters of booms on June 15 at 5.15 a.m. The contractor needed more time as it had to load its vessel with heavy equipment and set about the laborious task of laying the booms amid bad weather and nightfall. Chee said T&T did its best given the circumstances, and its response time was in line with industry practices internationally. He explained that currents and waves would have carried the spilled oil away from the accident site, and hence, the booms were not meant to ring-fence the oil that has already leaked. Rather, they were to prevent further spills from the vessel, which still had vast amounts of fuel in its tanks. WP MP Gerald Giam (Aljunied GRC) asked if the booms could have been deployed more quickly. Chee replied that the practices used in response to the oil spill have been developed over the years by experts, and this is how it is done internationally, not just in Singapore but also in other parts of the world. While the minister said that there was no disagreement that faster is better, he made the point that even in the best circumstances, there would be a gap between a large oil spill and when booms are fully deployed. In this case, the challenge for the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and its contractors was in locating those patches, an effort which was also hampered by poor visibility and nightfall. They were able to do so only on the morning after the spill, when the skimmers were dispatched. Another question was whether it made economic sense to have in-house capacity to contain oil spills, instead of engaging contractors. Mr Chee said the MPA has in-house capabilities, such as vessels, for this purpose. But, given the nature of spills, the Republic wants to tackle them in two ways: - Fostering “good collaborations” with its neighbours to ensure a coordinated response during spills; and - Working with contractors who are experts in various areas, including laying booms and skimming oil. Cautioning against a binary view that everything has to be in-house, or everything has to be outsourced, he said that both is needed. One key takeaway from the debate was that it takes all hands on deck to contain an oil spill. It is impossible for the authorities to go it alone.

Dredger had defiencies

Safety lapses have been found aboard the 'Vox Maxima'. The dredger was detained after failing a port state control inspection a day after it collided with the 'Marine Honour' off the Pasir Panjang container terminal. Singapore inspectors uncovered 13 deficiencies aboard the ship, three of which were serious enough to warrant its detention, relating to life-saving appliances, fire safety and international safety management. Other deficiencies found included structural conditions as well as oil accumulation in the engine room, but these were not deemed as grounds for detention. The rectification of these deficiencies was ongoing, with close-out being done by Bureau Veritas and Lloyds Register. The ship had suffered a sudden loss in the engine and steering control before the incident, according to initial investigations into the incident by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore. On June 25, Singapore authorities reported that it may take up to two weeks to safely lighter the remaining 800 tonnes of low-sulphur fuel oil on the 'Marine Honour' to ensure the stability of the vessel throughout the process. The tanker remained anchored off the western petroleum anchorage. The remaining fuel oil onboard from the ruptured cargo tank and its full contents onboard the vessel must be emptied before it can be towed into a shipyard for its repair. Aside from the containment booms laid around the vessel, a 35-tonne oil load Current Buster system was on station to respond to any potential leaks in the lightering process to transfer the oil to another tanker.