More than two months after an oil spill blackened Singapore’s shorelines, Sentosa’s Palawan Beach has fully reopened to the public.
The good news was announced in a Facebook post by the Sentosa Development Corporation (SDC) on Saturday (17 Aug).
Source: Sentosa via Alvin Tan on Facebook
In the post, SDC said visitors to Palawan Beach may resume water activities.
These include paddleboarding and wave dipping, or just soaking up the sun.
Source: Sentosa on Facebook
The resort island also offered up deals for beachfront dining and attractions, valid till 1 Sept.
However, Sentosa’s third beach, Tanjong Beach, is still not open for water activities.
This will happen “once the water quality returns to normal levels”, SDC said.
In a Facebook post on 3 Aug, SDC estimated that both Palawan Beach and Tanjong Beach would complete clean-up operations by mid-August.
Siloso Beach was the first of Sentosa’s three beaches to reopen for water activities on 3 Aug.
Source: Sentosa on Facebook
This was made possible following extensive clean-up efforts, SDC said at the time.
All three beaches in Sentosa were closed on 15 June due to an oil spill the day before.
It was the result of an allision between a Netherlands-flagged dredger, Vox Maxima, and a stationary Singapore-flagged bunker vessel, Marine Honour, at the Pasir Panjang Terminal, according to the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA).
An allision is when a moving ship runs into another ship that is stationary.
SDC told MS News that it was first alerted to instances of oil spillage in sea waters around Palawan Beach at around 9pm on 14 June.
On the morning of 15 June, SDC detected oil spillage in their waters at Palawan, Siloso, and Tanjong, as well as Sentosa Cove.
Source: Wan Razak on Facebook
Following the closure, visitors could use the beaches, but swimming and sea activities on the beaches were not allowed.
On 23 June, Sentosa said they had removed more than 140,000kg of oil-soaked sand from three beaches since 15 June.
Besides Sentosa, the oil spill also affected shorelines in East Coast Park, Labrador Nature Reserve, the Southern Islands and Marina South Pier.
The full reopening of Palawan Beach came six days after all the beaches at East Coast Park reopened to the public.
However, while water activities are now possible at two out of three of Sentosa’s beaches, only non-primary contact water sports can be done at East Coast Park for the time being.
That includes kayaking and other activities that involve minimal contact with water.
Also read: Clean-up efforts: How NEA is clearing oil-soaked sand from East Coast Park beaches after oil spill
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Featured image adapted from Sentosa via Alvin Tan on Facebook and Sentosa on Facebook.
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