A major fire broke out at an oil storage tank at Singapore’s Pulau Busing terminal on Tuesday, March 20.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) informed it was alerted about the fire at about 5.50 pm local time.
Pulau Busing, an island located off the southwestern coast of Singapore, is occupied by Tankstore Ltd, a petroleum storage company which runs the terminal. The terminal has a total capacity of 2 million cbm for the storage of petroleum and petrochemical products.
“After approximately 6 hours of intense firefighting operations, the raging oil storage tank fire was extinguished by the combined efforts of SCDF Emergency Responders and CERT members,” SCDF said in a tweet.
The intense firefighting operation was challenged by the radiant heat from the affected tank requiring firefighters to maintain a safe distance. Furthermore, adjacent tanks had to be cooled in order to prevent the fire from spreading.
There have been no casualties reported.
As informed, 31 firefighting and support vehicles and 128 personnel were involved in the firefighting operation.
The operation also received support from the Police Coast Guard, Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, Republic of Singapore Navy and National Environment Agency, SCDF said.
The cause of the fire and the extent of damage on the oil tank are yet to be determined.
World Maritime News Staff; Image Courtesy: SCDF