MPA In Singapore Joint Oil Spill Exercise

Recovery of oil using a heavy duty oil recovery system during JOSE 2012.

Photo Credit: MPA

Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) said today in a press release that in conjunction with this year's Singapore International Bunkering Conference (SIBCON 2012) it organised a joint oil spill exercise "to test and demonstrate Singapore's readiness to respond to oil spills at sea."

Code-named "JOSE 2012," MPA said the aim of the multi-agency joint exercise, which involved some 200 personnel, was to familiarise responding agencies with its Oil Spill Contingency Plan for combating major oil spills at sea.

"Singapore is a premier global hub port with more than 120,000 vessel calls annually. It is critical that we remain vigilant and maintain operational readiness at all times," said Captain M Segar, Assistant Chief Executive, MPA.

"Exercises like JOSE 2012 help test the various agencies' readiness and cooperation in combating oil spill, thus ensuring effective and swift response to such incidents," he added.

Consisting of a table-top exercise and a demonstration on local oil spill response capability, the JOSE 2012 scenario was an oil tanker colliding with a fully laden very-large crude carrier (VLCC) resulting in 8,000 tonnes of its Arabian Light Crude cargo spilling into the sea.

MPA said the exercise demonstrated the activation of its Oil Spill Contingency Plan, and the deployment of dispersant spraying craft to combat the spill, equipment such as oil containment booms around the stricken tanker to prevent further escape of the oil, and recovery of oil using a heavy duty oil recovery system.

"JOSE 2012 was successfully executed and saw close cooperation among MPA, government agencies and industry partners," MPA concluded.