Last week, an oil tanker Trident Star was involved in a bunker fuel spill in Tanjong Pelepas port area – southern Malaysia. The estimated spill of at least 60 MT of bunker fuel disrupted the terminal operations at PTP (Port of Tanjong Pelepas), the terminal controlled by VTTI, the storage division of the world’s largest oil trader Vitol.
Later, various trade sources reported that the terminal resumed its operations and the situation was claimed to be normal. However, the actual scenario is on the contrary.
It seems that the oil spill has affected the shipping operations and the spill has not been fully recovered. This could have prompted the container shipping giant, Maersk to shift the ships from its route to PTP towards Singapore.
“As part of the ongoing contingency plan, we will be diverting a number of vessels from Tanjung Pelepas to Singapore,” Maersk Line said in a note to clients. Initially, five ships will be diverted.
In addition to this, Maersk Line is in the process of moving Australian import shipments which were awaiting onwards connections in Tanjung Pelepas, to Singapore.
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Source: Maersk Line & Splash
