Two vessels detained over oil spill in Labuan waters

LABUAN: The Environment Department (DOE) here has detained two vessels in connection with an oil spill near Labuan Shipyard Engineering (LSE) jetty and in Patau-Patau 1 waters.

Labuan disaster management committee chairman Rithuan Ismail said the detention of the vessels was carried out in accordance with Section 38 (1)(C) of the Environmental Quality Act 1974.

"I have been briefed by the DOE director on the situation, and at present, investigations are under way at five sampling locations to determine the extent of the oil spill in the affected area.

"Samples collected are also slated for immediate analysis at the Kota Kinabalu Chemistry Department,” Rithuan said on Monday (Sept 25).

He said the findings would help determine and identify the responsible party and bring the case to court.

"Clean-up and containment efforts for the oil spill in the affected area were concluded as of Friday (Sept 22),” he said.

Rithuan said while much of the oil had naturally decomposed, the DOE is set to issue a Notice of Instruction to LSE to conduct marine water monitoring and sampling to assess the quality of water both immediately after the incident and one week later.

The oil spill, which extended across a 1.5km area encompassing the waters around LSE jetty, Patau-Patau 1, and the Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) jetty, was initially reported to the MMEA on Thursday (Sept 21) following a notification from the Labuan Fishermen's Association. – Bernama