Thailand: Oil spill heading for east coast beaches; if hits ‘will take years to clean up’

Oil leak from offshore mooring point stopped but there are two slicks, largest covering 18 square miles; desperate attempt under way to clean up

Thon Thamrongnawasawat, marine biologist, says clearing oil from sea surface takes days but on shore ‘years’ needed to rehabilitate environment

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Workers in Thailand drag an oil spill boom out onto Mae Ram Phueng Beach on Friday in the hope of containing any oil that washes ashore from a spill at sea. Oil slicks were approaching beaches on the east coast, home to fragile coral and seagrass, officials said. Photo: AP

Published: 8:21pm, 28 Jan 2022

An oil slick off the coast of Thailand continued to expand on Friday and was approaching beaches on the east coast, home to fragile coral and seagrass, officials said.

The oil leak from an underwater hosepipe at an offshore mooring point used to load tankers was stopped early Wednesday morning, but not before 140 to 375 barrels, or between about 22,000 and 60,000 litres (5,800 to 15,850 gallons), spilled into the Gulf of Thailand, according to Star Petroleum Refining, the operating company.

There are now two slicks, a small one about one square km (less than half a square mile) that is closer to the coast and another that has broadened to 47 square kilometres (18 square miles) that is not far behind it, said Siam Lawawirojwong, director of the department that deals with disasters at Thailand’s Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency.

Tourists on a beach near oil spill booms laid out to try and contain any oil approaching from a recent leak off the coast. Photo: AP

The Royal Thai Navy, which has been part of the clean-up and containment effort, said the main slick is expected to reach an area of coast including the Khao Lam Ya National Park by about 10pm. The park is home to a variety of seabirds and fish.

In preparation, floating booms were being deployed to try and trap the oil and contain it so that it can be collected from the surface and removed.

“Cleaning up the oil slicks in the sea may take five to seven days, but if the oil slicks reach the shore, it will take years to rehabilitate the environment,” said Thon Thamrongnawasawat, a prominent Thai marine biologist.

“So we have to do everything possible not to let it hit the shore,” he said.