‘Almost a complete loss’: Oil spill ruins sea sports businesses’ plans to cash in on long weekend

SINGAPORE: As clean-up efforts continue following an oil spill along the southern shores, some sea sports businesses told CNA they are worried about when they can open their doors again.

Many hoping to cash in over the usually lucrative long weekend suffered three days of revenue loss instead, with more losses expected before the worst is over.

Some beaches at East Coast Park and the island resort of Sentosa remained out of bounds over the weekend and on Monday (Jun 17), which was a public holiday due to Hari Raya Haji.

They will be closed until further notice to facilitate clean-up operations.

About 400 metric tonnes of oil was spilled into the waters when a dredger struck a stationary bunker vessel and ruptured an oil tank at Pasir Panjang Terminal on Friday.

Oil started washing up along the coast of several beaches on Saturday, staining the sand black and sending the stench of petrochemicals into the air.

Even businesses located further away from the spill are affected. They said that while they remain open, customers are staying away from beach activities. 

“WORST OIL SPILL IN 20 YEARS”

Mr Ho Kah Soon, director of Constant Wind Sea Sports Centre, said his firm was hosting a weekly race in the sea on Saturday when their equipment and clothes started turning black.

Constant Wind Sea Sports Centre is about 700m from East Coast Park Area H, which is closed for the clean-up until further notice.

Mr Ho said the water seemed clean when they kicked off their activities in the morning, but the oil reached them around 3pm.

“The oil spill came in and soiled most of the boats, and some of the windsurfers and some of the sailors as well,” he noted, adding it took hours to scrub the oil off. 

Mr Ho said his business is usually prepared for “small oil spills” every now and then, brought in by the ongoing Southwest Monsoon season. Because of that, they have turpentine and thinner on hand for cleaning purposes.

The firm has been hard hit by Friday’s oil spill despite staying open. 

“It affected our business. Our Saturday business was gone, our Sunday business was gone. Today’s business is also gone,” Mr Ho told CNA on Monday.

“It affected our income for this week, for this long weekend … Most of our business income comes from this period,” he added.

Customers usually patronise Mr Ho’s business to rent equipment for boating, sailing, windsurfing, windfoiling or stand-up paddling.

On weekends and public holidays, at least 50 to 100 people will pass through his sea sports centre for water and beach activities each day, he noted.

“The oils are still floating in the water so when they get out there, they will be stained by the oil. It’s best not to go out because when you come back, you will have to clean for two hours,” he added.

Mr Ho said he hopes the National Environment Agency or the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore can provide his firm with chemicals and equipment to clean up the beach, so his business can return to normal sooner rather than later.

“This is the worst oil spill in 20 years that I’ve seen, operating sea sports at East Coast,” he added.

At Aloha Sea Sports Centre, located in East Coast Park Area E, close to the popular East Coast Lagoon Food Village, the beach remains off limits – and its losses have been significant.

“It’s terrible … we suffered almost 80 to 90 per cent loss of income revenue, particularly for our rental sea sport equipment and courses,” said general manager Loh Fock Jin.

“No one is going out to sea. Our F&B – no one is patronising it as well, so it's almost a complete loss for us today,” he added.

YACHT COMPANIES ALSO HIT

Yacht businesses with boats berthed at Sentosa Cove told CNA that they were suffering losses as well. The marina’s entrance had been blocked off since Saturday morning.

It has since re-opened from 9am to 7pm, after booms – temporary floating barriers used to contain spills – were deployed there and the oil spill dissipated, said Ms Jelissa Mei, marketing manager of Zenith Yacht Charters.

Boats are still not allowed to move around in the evenings, partly because it is tougher to see where the oil spills are in the dark, she told CNA938 on Tuesday.

As of Monday, Marina at Keppel Bay remains closed.

While there are usually more than 40 yachts out at the Lazarus Island and St John Island areas over a long weekend, the oil spill led to cancellations for about 80 to 90 per cent of Zenith’s charter bookings, said Ms Mei.

She further noted that oil can have corrosive properties, which could compromise the integrity of a yacht’s structure.

“We will check whether the hull of the yacht is still sea-worthy, (whether) it’s good enough to go,” she added.