'Massive Operation' to put out fire at Pulau Busing, 20 Mar 2018

A raging oil storage tank fire on Pulau Busing was extinguished by firefighters on 20 Mar 2018 after a massive six-hour operation involving several agencies, reported media articles.

Photo by Minister Shanmugam.

The fire was "quite severe", a Tankstore source told Reuters, asking not to be named as he was not authorised to speak to the media. Update in July 2018: "Preliminary investigations show that a lightning strike was the cause of the oil storage tank fire".

What nearby natural shores might be affected?

Oil spill at Pulau Busing on 30 Apr 2016

According to a post on Stomp, 'massive amounts of oil gushed into the sea' on 30 Apr 2016 at Tankstore on Pulau Busing. 5 days after the incident, I have not been able to find any public announcements from corporations or agencies responsible for such incidents.

Photo from Stomp

Pulau Busing is close to some of the best reefs and seagrass meadows in Singapore.

Why is now a bad time for an oil spill? What natural shores may be affected by the spill?

[Update: Straits Times reported on the incident on 5 May 2016]

Shell told to stop work following Aug 2015 fire at Pulau Bukom

Singapore has issued a stop work order on Shell's refinery on Pulau Bukom island after the fire there on 21 Aug which hurt 6 people.

Shell refinery on Pulau Bukom,
just off the mangroves and seagrass meadows on Pulau Semakau.

A stop work order is usually issued in cases where severe lapses in safety and health conditions cause immediate danger to the people at work.

Update Jan 2019: Shell was fined $400,000 for this incident.

Shell charged for Bukom refinery fire

The Ministry of Manpower has filed a charge against Shell for alleged lapses in workplace safety that led to the massive fire at the Bukom refinery a year ago.

From the Straits Times 30 Sep 11

In this image, Pulau Hantu is the small wooded island above Pulau Bukom.

Update on fire at Shell's Bukom refinery

It appears there WAS a fire at the Shell Bukom refinery on 26 Mar which forced the plant to be shut down for a few hours, and one of three Crude Distillation Units (CDUs) to be down a day after. Shell says "the flame and smoke that you see are from the refinery’s flare system".

Photo by Straits Times, Lau Fook Kong.

But according to Reuters: "A momentary trip in electricity supply to the plant, called a power dip, triggered a fire in one of the smaller secondary cracking units, part of its 33,000-bpd Long Residue Catalytic Cracker (LRCC) complex."

Another fire at Shell's Bukom refinery?

On 26 Mar 2012 "flames and smoke were seen coming out of a processing plant on Pulau Bukom" according to media articles.

Photo by Straits Times, Lau Fook Kong.

Reports said "the power trip had caused the plant's 'flare system' to go off" and when asked, Shell "declined to elaborate on the incident".

Shell refinery fire at Bukom: a 'bright side'?

Mainstream media reports following the fire seem to be highlighting the 'bright side' of the fire.

This is not a fire, it is flaring at Pulau Bukom refineries
seen from Semakau seagrass meadows, Feb 2010.

Some reports said repair of the refinery "may bring new business opportunities" to other companies. A Straits Times interview with the Shell Chairman, who warned that flaring can be expected, ended by remarking "For Shell, clearly not all fires are so bad after all". We also find out more from recent media reports, including how foam was used from the first time the fire broke out.

Shell refinery fire at Bukom: what caused it?

"The fire broke out during preparation work for maintenance" preliminary findings from the investigation showed, according to recent mainstream media reports.

Foaming operations at the fire site,
photo from Channel NewsAsia 1 Oct 11

Debby Ng of the Hantu Bloggers also shared a first look at the impact on the natural reefs at Pulau Hantu.

A glimpse of Bukom after the fire

There are no obvious signs of the massive fire on Pulau Bukom, as we passed the Shell refinery under clear, blue skies.

I took a few photos yesterday on our way to Pulau Semakau.

Shell refinery fire at Bukom: aftermath

The fire which flared up at noon 29 Sep was reportedly extinguished late the same day.

From the Straits Times 30 Sep 11

In this image, Pulau Hantu is the small wooded island above Pulau Bukom.

Shell refinery fire at Bukom: what natural shores nearby?

Some of our best natural shores ring Pulau Bukom.

What are some of the potential environmental impacts of the fire that broke out at Bukom yesterday?

NEA comments on flaring at Bukom

The emission of dark smoke from a chimney is against the law outside agreed limitations, says the National Environment Agency (NEA) -- according to today's Straits Times article about flaring on Pulau Bukom.

Flaring on Pulau Bukom, near living reefs at Pulau Hantu and
other areas of rich marine biodiversity including Cyrene Reef.

Other insights from the article: Shell says it is within the limitations but an NEA spokesman said: 'We are working with Shell to understand and stem this unusual spate of smoke emissions from the flare stacks.'

Oil slick from the sky?

This morning, as we pass by the petrochemical plants on Pulau Bukom before dawn, we see that flaring is still going on.
At sunrise, the size of the 'cloud' over Pulau Bukom is more apparent.

Semakau swiftly with flaring on Pulau Bukom

Another predawn start for the low tide, this time with TeamSeagrass to Pulau Semakau.
As we approach Pulau Semakau, we could see that flaring is still going on at Pulau Bukom's petrochemical installations!

There are two black plumes rising up from the huge flare as we head out to our monitoring sites at Pulau Semakau's vast seagrass meadows.

More flaring up at Pulau Bukom

We arrived on Pulau Hantu before sunrise. It was dark, yet there was an unearthly glow in the sky.
It's the massive flaring at Pulau Bukom's petrochemical plants.

Flaring up at Pulau Bukom

During the TeamSeagass monitoring at Pulau Semakau yesterday, I noticed huge flares coming out of the Shell refinery at Pulau Bukom.
What is going on?

Oil refineries in Singapore are 'bleeding'

Our wild reefs in the South lie close to massive petrochemical complexes built on reclaimed islands and reefs in the area.

Petrochemical plants on Pulau Bukom seen from the mangroves on Pulau Semakau.

Petrochemical complex opposite Pulau Hantu nears completion

An important part of Shell's new US$3 billion petrochemical cracker complex is ready and operational, ahead of the complex's completion in the first quarter of next year.

This massive petrochemical complex is built on reclaimed land which buried the living reefs of Terumbu Bayan. It lies just opposite Pulau Hantu, a wild living reef that is a popular local dive spot.