Singapore oil clean up to take 3 months before beaches gradually reopen: minister Grace Fu

Oil spill clean-up operations are expected to take around three months before affected areas such as beaches are progressively reopened to the public, said Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu on Monday.

She gave an update on the clean-up operation during a joint press conference with Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat and Minister for National Development Desmond Lee.

The spill occurred on the afternoon of June 14 after a Netherlands-flagged dredger hit a stationary bunker vessel, causing oil from the latter’s damaged cargo tank to spill into the water.

Over the next few days, oil washed up along several beaches including Sentosa, East Coast Park, and Labrador Nature Reserve, as well as beaches at St John’s, Lazarus and Kusu islands. Oil slicks were also spotted at Marina South Pier.

Fu said that more than 700 cleaning personnel have been deployed and much of the oil on beachfronts has been cleaned up.

“About 550 tonnes of oil-soaked sand and debris from the affected beaches has been removed,” she added.

More than 3,400m of booms have also been deployed to prevent oil from being washed ashore or into inland canals.

“This effort would not have been possible without the tireless and coordinated efforts of our cleaning personnel from agencies and their service providers,” Fu said.

Fu said that clean-up efforts will be entering the next phase.

“The first phase of the clean-up focused on removing the oil slicks and contaminated sand from the surface of the affected beaches and deploying booms to avoid further contamination,” she said.

“This is making good progress and approaching completion.”

In a joint statement on Monday by seven agencies involved in the oil clean-up effort – such as the Maritime and Port Authority