An oil tanker that spilled 2,500 metric tons of crude into the Singapore Strait yesterday is being unloaded as efforts to clean up a slick near the world’s busiest container port resumed.

AET Tanker Holdings Sdn., the owner of the MT Bunga Kelana 3 that collided with the bulk carrier MV Waily, is undertaking an “internal transfer” of Bintulu grade oil, the company said today in an e-mailed statement. The vessel, struck on its port side as it sailed east to west, will be moved after the underwater damage is assessed.

 

The spill, equivalent to 18,325 barrels, is enough to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool and is about three days of leakage from BP Plc’s damaged well in the Gulf of Mexico. More than 100 people have been deployed along the coastline in case the spill reaches shore, according to AET, a unit of MISC Bhd., the world’s biggest owner of liquefied natural gas tankers.

 

The spill hasn’t increased in size or reached shore, Serene Tan, a spokeswoman at the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, said today. Yesterday’s collision occurred 13 kilometers (8 miles) southeast of Changi East.

 

MISC shares fell for a fifth day, the longest losing streak in five years. They declined 2% to 8.25 ringgit ($3.48) at 10.56 a.m. in Kuala Lumpur, against a 0.3% gain in the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI Index.

 

“The incident caused significant damage to the vessel’s hull,” AET said. “AET is also cooperating fully with Malaysian authorities in readiness of possible clean-up operations along the southeastern coast of Peninsular Malaysia.”

 

Singapore’s worst oil spill was in October 1997 when the Cyprus-flagged Evoikos collided with the Thai-registered Orapin Global, a Very Large Crude Carrier. More than 25,000 tons of oil were spilled.

 

Efforts to contain and clean up the spill resumed today, according to AET. Yesterday’s operations involved 15 emergency response craft, 50 tons of dispersant and 4 kilometers of boom.

 

“If you have an oil spill in a harbor, a populated area, it’s going to cause some concern,” Stuart Traver, a downstream adviser at energy consultants Gaffney, Cline & Associates Ltd. in Singapore, said yesterday. The spill “is not small -- most environmental organizations get upset about even smaller slicks.”

 

BP estimated its Gulf of Mexico oil well has been leaking 5,000 barrels a day since an April 20 explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, which killed 11. Independent scientists have told the U.S. Congress crude was coming out at more than 10 times that rate.

 

The Malaysia-flagged Bunga Kelana 3, classed as an Aframax tanker, was built in 1998 with 12 cargo tanks, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. It has a double hull, a design meant to prevent oil leaks or flooding beyond the outer compartment.

 

“Double hull does not guarantee there will never be a spill,” said John Vautrain, senior vice-president at consultants Purvin & Gertz Inc. in Singapore. “Double hull means it takes a bigger collision to create a spill. I shouldn’t think it’ll take too long to clean this up.”

 

The vessel had a loaded draft of 11.4 meters (37.4 feet) yesterday, compared with its maximum of 14.9 meters, based on transmissions captured by AISLive on Bloomberg. This indicates it was almost fully laden when it departed Bintulu, off Malaysia’s Sarawak state, on May 23.

 

Treasure Marine is the beneficial owner of the Waily, Bloomberg data showed. The 25,449-deadweight-ton vessel, flying a St. Vincent & The Grenadines flag, was built in 1983. It sailed from the east Indian port of Paradip about two weeks ago.