Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia Conduct Trilateral Oil Spill Exercise

SINGAPORE, Oct 16 (Bernama) -- Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia conducted a ground deployment exercise (GDX) on Friday under the Revolving Fund Committee to strengthen coordination in responding to oil spills in the Malacca and Singapore straits.

Led by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), the exercise was conducted ahead of Singapore’s 17th Joint Oil Spill Exercise (JOSE) 2026.

MPA said the multi-agency joint exercise simulated an oil spill originating from a vessel collision in Singapore waters, with the oil subsequently reaching the shores of Indonesia and Malaysia.

“The GDX tested information sharing, response planning and mutual assistance among the three littoral states. 

“As part of the exercise, Indonesia and Malaysia deployed response assets in their respective waters to test their response arrangements under the exercise scenario,” MPA said in a statement on Friday. 

Meanwhile, MPA also hosted a programme for representatives from the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), the International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation (ITOPF) and maritime authorities from Indonesia and Malaysia to share Singapore’s oil spill response capabilities and explore the use of emerging technologies in future operations.

These included MPA’s Maritime Digital Twin (MDT), which uses modelling to predict the movement of spilt oil and identify potentially affected areas, as well as artificial intelligence to support response planning and resource deployment.

“The programme also highlighted how emerging technologies could enhance oil spill response,” it added.

-- BERNAMA