RI Police Help Clean Up Oil Slick From Malaysian Tanker

Dumai, Riau, May 25 (ANTARA) - Indonesian marine police units on Tuesday converged on a spot in Singapore waters to clean up an oil slick that had formed following a collision between a Malaysian-flagged tanker and a Singaporean-flagged vessel.

The oil slick from an estimated 20,000 tons of crude that had spilled from the damaged "Mt Bunga Kelana 2" tanker had covered an area of about two square kilometers, an Indonesian marine police officer, First Inspector Carita, reported from the scene at 21:00 hours on Tuesday.

The Bunga Kelana 3 was on its way from Bintulu to Sungai Udang Kerteh in Malayswia with 50,000 tons of crude oil in its hold when it was rammed by MV Waily at about 05.05 West Indonesian Time on Tuesday.

The crash made a 20 m X 6 m gash on the left side of the tanker, allowing about 20,000 tons of crude oil to flow into the sea.

None of the two vessels sank and there were no casualties.

After 14 hours of rescue and cleaning up efforts made together with Singapore and Malsyian police, part of the oil slick had been removed, Carita said.

"But we are a little constrained in our work because we use minimal equipment. We will possibly get more personnel and better equipment tomorrow, Wednesday (May 26)," he said.

The accident happened in a narrow strait between Indonesia and Singapore at a spot within Singaporean waters.

Although the vessels involved were not Indonesian and the collision occurred in foreign waters, Indonesia took part in the rescue and cleanup operations because it was called for in an existing international understanding and the oil spill could also affect Indonesian territory, Carita said.