OIL SPILL CAUSES MINIMAL DAMAGE TO MALAYSIAN SHORE

KUCHING (Malaysia), June 1 (Bernama) -- An oil spill in the waters off
Pengerang, Johor from the collision between two vessels in the Singapore Strait
last Tuesday caused only minimal damage to the Malaysian shore.

Natural Resources and Environment Minister Douglas Uggah Embas
said most of the spill was carried by waves to the Singaporean waters.

Malaysia and Singapore adopted a standard operating procedure in dealing
with the oil spill crisis, he told reporters who visited him at his residence in
conjunction with the Gawai Dayak celebration here Tuesday.

He said a clean-up operation was carried out at the affected areas by about
200 people, including those hired by the vessels' owners.

The collision between a Malaysian-registered tanker, MT Bunga Kelana 3, and
a bulk carrier in the Singapore Strait, occurred four nautical miles southwest
of Tanjung Stapa, Pengerang and 3.7 nautical miles from Singapore.

The master of the tanker estimated that 2,000 tonnes of crude oil could have
spilled into the sea from the collision.

-- BERNAMA