Johor oil spill affecting Port of Tanjung Pelepas operations, and Tuas?

A 60-metric ton oil spill at Tanjung Bin last week (24 Aug) is so badly affecting operations at Port of Tanjung Pelepas that a major shipping line Maersk Line has sent a note to clients today saying it will have to divert a number of ships from PTP to Singapore. The accident happened while a tanker was taking on bunker fuel at a terminal.

Location of Port of Tanjung Pelepas at Sungai Pulai
off Tuas in Singapore.

What are the possible impacts on Singapore?

A month ago (26 Jul), one ton of heavy fuel oil was spilled in Malaysian waters off Tanjung Pelepas affecting an area of about 20 nautical miles (37km). A week later (4 Aug), there was an MPA Notice that silt curtains will be installed at the Tuas Spring Desalination Plant in Singapore.

What water quality issues happening now in the West Johor Strait?

Yesterday, there was an MPA Notice that silt curtains will be installed at the Tuas Spring Desalination Plant.  Why would a silt curtain be needed now?

Tuas Spring Desalination Plant facing the sea.
Photo from the PUB Annual Report 2013

Is there an ongoing algae bloom in the West Johor Strait? When this action was taken in Mar 2015, PUB explained that "it was installing the silt curtains at the intake points of Singapore’s two desalination plants, as it had noticed a slight increase in levels of algae in the seawater around that area."

Or is this in response to the massive oil spill reported last week in the area?

Johor reclamation at Tanjung Piai gets go ahead

More massive reclamation to be expected in West Johor Strait as the Tanjung Piai reclamation project gets approval to go ahead?

From the Tanjung Piai
Integrated Petroleum and Petrochemical Hub website.

This is in addition to the massive Forest City reclamation already going on there.

Singapore's last Western reefs at Tuas Merawang Beacon

A sliver of natural reef escaped the Tuas reclamation. It is now Singapore's last natural western reef.

I surveyed this shore on Saturday and Sunday during a not-so-low-tide. And I went to parts of the shore I've not been to before!

Where does your poop go? EIA for new outfall in the sea for public viewing

After you flush your poop, it and industrial wastes, are processed with the best technology available. Whatever can't be reclaimed is discharged into the sea surrounding Singapore through an outfall.

Tuas will be the third outfall.
The other two are at Changi and Kranji,
From PUB's website.

A new outfall (Singapore's third one) is planned by PUB at Tuas View, south of Tuas Power and an EIA study has been carried out to determine the potential environmental impact of the plant’s outfall discharge. The EIA is now available for public viewing.

Surveying Singapore's last western reefs

It was a nice sunny day when we arrived at Tuas Merawang Beacon for our survey.

We had a great day surveying this last natural western reef of Singapore.

Sharing Singapore's last natural western reefs with agencies

Early this morning, I was glad to share with agencies my favourite Tuas shore.

We had great weather, good spotters and a wonderful day exploring Singapore's last natural western reefs.

Singapore's last western reefs are alive!

A sliver of natural reef escaped the Tuas reclamation. It is now Singapore's last natural western reef.

This is home to some spectacular creatures and we had a great time visiting to see them yesterday.

Forest City reclamation seen from Singapore's last western reefs at Tuas

Here's what I saw of the Forest City reclamation during our survey of Tuas Merawang Beacon yesterday.

The massive works don't seem very far away.

Dead sea turtle found at Tuas

Thanks to Lee Zhang Er who shared that "A huge turtle was spotted today along the coast near Tuas checkpoint. No other dead fishes were spotted along side it." at about 12.30pm today (17 Mar).

This blog post will be updated with any information that becomes available.

Seawater quality and desalination plants in Singapore

The quality of seawater can affect our drinking water. Not just plankton blooms that cause mass fish deaths.

Tuas Spring Desalination Plant facing the sea.
Photo from the PUB Annual Report 2013

Yesterday, there was an MPA Notice that silt curtains will be installed at the Tuas Spring Desalination Plant and sea water intake nearby. Why would a silt curtain be needed now?

Return to Tuas Merawang Beacon

There is a sliver of natural shore that escaped being buried in the Tuas reclamation years ago. Here, there are seagrass meadows, reefs, rocky shores and even mangroves. The team surveys it near sunset yesterday.

On the horizon is the Tuas Merawang Beacon which gives this shore its name. My last visit to Tuas was in Mar 2012. I'm wondering how it is doing.

Massive Malaysian reclamation off Western Catchment has begun?

"The project has since begun with sand barges dumping sand while the Detailed Environmental Impact Assessment (DEIA) has yet to be made available to the public." write Save our Seahorses (SOS) Malaysia, a group which has been working in the area for many years, in a letter to the press on 24 Mar.

click on image for larger view

Dubbed "Forest City", a massive reclamation project to build luxury homes (area in red) could entail "a few thousand acres" making it one of Iskandar Malaysia’s single largest projects, The Star reported on 19 Mar.

Mega container port at Tuas

The hockey stick-shaped piece of land at the westernmost tip of Singapore is where all of Singapore's container port activities will be "consolidated over the long term with the first berths to be built there in 10 years."
"The move would free up prime land occupied by the terminals in the city area for redevelopment and result in more efficient port operations."

Fierce tiny fish at Tuas with TeamSeagrass

Back on the Tuas shore to with TeamSeagrass volunteers from Merck, led by Sheryl.

The seagrasses are doing fine and we also saw some interesting marine life even though the tide wasn't very low.

Tuas quickly

The tide is not very low, but we're out to check up on the Tuas shore with Sheryl. She leads TeamSeagrass monitoring at Tuas with volunteers at Merck, whose property fronts the shore.

I took the opportunity to get a closer look at some creatures commonly seen on this shore.

Tuas: seagrass shift and very long driftnet

There is a tiny sliver of natural shore at Tuas teeming with marine life. My last visit to this shore was in April.

Particularly abundant are Thorny sea cucumbers (Colochirus quadrangularis), as well as Orange sea cucumbers.

Quick check at Tuas, Merawang Beacon

I'm back for a quick look at the rich shore of Tuas with volunteers working at the company along this shore who monitor the seagrasses here with TeamSeagrass.

It was a hot morning! And I saw a plume of cloud hanging over the tower in Johor behind the green Merawang Beacon that marks the reefy part of this shore.

Massive Tuas reclamation continues

Natural shores at Tuas in Singapore and at Sungai Pulai and other Ramsar sites in Johor are near massive reclamation of the hockey-shaped portion of the Tuas reclamation project.

Photo from Dredging Today.

Desalination plant at Tuas may have "a slight negative impact" on marine life

Singapore's second desalination plant at Tuas may have "a slight negative impact" on marine life, in particular, fish, reported Today Online.

The first desalination plant at Tuas, from Water Technology.

Desalination, the process of removing salt and other minerals from water to make it drinkable, is set to grow by 10 times and meet 30% of Singapore's water demand by 2060.