Oil spills related to bunkering operations into Singapore waters can lead to huge financial penalties on shipowners, masters and agents, while they can face imprisonment.
The Singapore port authority has released a circular for pollution prevention during bunkering operations, reminding that if any discharge of oil or oily mixture occurs from a Singapore ship into any part of the sea or from any ship into Singapore waters, the master, the owner and the agent of the ship shall each be guilty of an offence and shall each be liable on conviction to a fine of not less than $1,000 and not more than $1m or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or to both.
Specifically, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) issued on Oct. 30 port marine circular no. 13 of 2025 which supersedes port marine circular no. 06 of 2023.
MPA stated that bunkering related oil spills are generally due to operational lapses and could be prevented if all the necessary precautions are taken.
All vessels that are supplying and receiving bunkers in the port of Singapore are reminded to observe the preventive measures during bunkering operations as stipulated in Annex A. In addition, agree, check and complete the bunkering checklist and pre-bunkering/post-incident tank volumes in Annexes B and C, respectively.
MPA would also like to draw the attention of ship masters and bunker craft operators to regulation 7 of the prevention of pollution of the sea act which states the following:
Prohibition of discharge of oil and oily mixtures from ships
7 (1) If any discharge of oil or oily mixture occurs from a Singapore ship into any part of the sea or from any ship into Singapore waters, the master, the owner and the agent of the ship shall each be guilty of an offence and shall each be liable on conviction to a fine of not less than $1,000 and not more than $1 million or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or to both.
The authority reminds that any incidents related to bunkering operations including bunker oil pollution shall be reported immediately to the marine safety control centre, highlighting that preventive measures in this circular are not exhaustive.
According to MPA, the master and crew are still fully responsible for preventing any oil spills that may occur during bunkering operations, including those resulting from causes not included in the checklist above.
Note: The full copy of port marine circular no. 13 of 2025, annex A, B and C can be found here.
