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The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) organized a full deployment, multi-agency joint oil spill exercise, code-named 'JOSE 2012', on Friday, 19 October 2012, to test and demonstrate Singapore's readiness to respond to oil spills at sea. The exercise was held in conjunction with the Singapore International Bunkering Conference (SIBCON 2012), hosted by the MPA.

Comprising a table-top exercise at Port Operations Control Centre at PSA Vista (POCC-Vista) and a demonstration on local oil spill response capability, the aim of JOSE 2012 was to familiarize responding agencies to the Oil Spill Contingency Plan for combating major oil spills at sea. 200 personnel from various agencies participated in the exercise.

"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. 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," said Captain M Segar, Assistant Chief Executive, MPA.

JOSE 2012 involved a scenario where a fully laden very-large crude carrier (VLCC) collided with an oil tanker 1.5 nautical miles north-east of Raffles Lighthouse. The collision damaged two cargo tanks of the VLCC and 8,000 tonnes of its Arabian Light Crude spilled into the sea.

As a large quantity of oil was spilled and was spreading quickly, the MPA activated its Oil Spill Contingency Plan and deployed dispersant spraying craft to combat the spill. The exercise also demonstrated the deployment of 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," the MPA said.

A list of the JOSE exercise participants has been included below.

At seaward location:

1. Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore
2. Shell Eastern Petroleum Private Limited
3. Sinanju Tankers Private Limited
4. ExxonMobil Asia Pacific Private Limited
5. Police Coast Guard
6. Singapore Petroleum Company Limited
7. VOPAK Sebarok Terminal
8. PB Tankers Limited (Tankstore)
9. Singapore Oil Spill Response Centre (SOSRC)
10. Oil Spill Response Limited (OSRL)
11. Singapore Salvage Engineers Private Limited

At POCC-Vista:

1. National Environment Agency (NEA)
2. PUB, The National Water Agency
3. Singapore Police Force (SPF)
4. Police Coast Guard
5. Immigration and Checkpoints Authority
6. Ministry of Health
7. Singapore Civil Defence Force
8. Ministry of Defence
9. Republic of Singapore Navy
10. Singapore Land Authority
11. Jurong Town Corporation
12. Sentosa Development Corporation
13. National Parks Board
14. Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore.

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