Exercise to affect busy Singapore sea lanes: minister

News was prepared under the information support of Online Daily Newspaper on Hellenic and international Shipping "Hellenic Shipping News".

29 Apr 2008

The shipping lanes around Singapore -- which carry almost half the world's daily oil shipments -- will be affected by a maritime emergency exercise next month, a cabinet minister said on radio on Tuesday. Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng said the exercise involving a large-scale "simulated sea mishap" aboard a ship will occur on May 23. "It will impact our ports and our busy shipping lanes," he said in comments recorded Monday.
He added that the agencies involved, which include the Maritime and Port Authority and the paramedic and fire service, have been working with the shipping community and cruise ship operators "to minimise disruption and inconvenience."
The government says Singapore's port is the world's busiest and sits astride sea lanes that handle 11 million barrels of oil -- almost half of global shipments -- every day.
Shipping industry officials say one-third of the world's trade passes through the Straits of Malacca and Singapore, off the city-state.

Source: AFP