MARITIME AND PORT AUTHORITY OF SINGAPORE - MPA

MARITIME AND PORT AUTHORITY OF SINGAPORE
PORT MARINE CIRCULAR
No 6 of 2004
24 Feb 04
To: Shipping Community
Harbour Craft Community
EXTENSION OF SPECIAL BUNKERING ANCHORAGE SCHEME TO THE
WESTERN SECTOR OF THE PORT
1 With effect from 1 Mar 04, the Special Bunkering Anchorage (SBA) scheme in
the eastern sector will be further extended by the creation of two additional
bunkering anchorages in the western sector of the port. This is to meet the
increasing demand by vessels calling at the port solely for bunkering activities.
2 These anchorages are Sudong Bunkering Anchorage "A" (ASUBA) and
Sudong Bunkering Anchorage "B" (ASUBB) bounded by the geographical coordinates
as indicated in the chartlet attached as Appendix 1. Each anchorage will
accommodate only one vessel at a time.
3 With the creation of these anchorages the boundaries of the Sudong Special
Purpose Anchorage and the Sudong Explosives Anchorage have been revised. The
geographical co-ordinates of the revised boundaries are also indicated in Appendix
1.
4 Both these anchorages will be designated for the exclusive use by vessels of
20,000 GT and above, other than oil rigs and drill ships for the purpose of taking
bunkers.
CONDITIONS OF USE
5 With effect from 1 Mar 2004, vessels of 20,000 GT or more using these two
anchorages will be accorded concessionary port dues (reduced rate of $1.00 per 100
GT or part thereof) subject to the following conditions:
(a) The vessel overall port stay shall not exceed 24 hours;
(b) The vessel shall not carry out cargo work; and
(c) The vessel shall be an arrival vessel and proceed directly to the
"ASUBA" or the "ASUBB".
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CONDITIONS FOR PILOT EXEMPTION
6 Vessels of 20,000 GT or more using these two anchorages may be granted
pilot exemption. To qualify for pilotage exemption the following conditions shall be
complied with:
(a) The maximum arrival draft of the vessel should not exceed 11.5m; and
(b) The vessel must not be a Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) vessel,
Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) vessel or a Chemical tanker.
7 The information to assist shipmaster in planning the passage of vessel to the
bunkering anchorages in the western sector of the port is shown in Appendix 2. The
tidal predictions for the area are also available under the Singapore Maritime Portal
web-site (http://www.singaporemaritimeportal.com) - "Digital Tidal Atlas". Masters of
vessels are advised to familiarise themselves with the approach and to take note of
the tidal pattern of the area. Masters who are not familiar with the waters in the area
are advised to engage the services of a pilot.
REPORTING PROCEDURE
8 Owners, agents or masters of arriving vessels proceeding to the "ASUBA" or
"ASUBB" under this scheme are required to confirm with the Vessel Traffic
Information Service (VTIS) at least three to four hours before the vessel arrives on
the availability of anchorage space. The confirmation may be done by any of the
following means:
VTIS: Ch 10 (If arriving from the East)
Ch 73 (If arriving from the West)
Tel : 6325-2493 (Duty Officer Port Operations Control Centre )
Fax : 6224-5776.
9 In the event that the anchorages are occupied, VTIS will then inform the
vessel to use the appropriate alternative anchorages in the western or eastern sector
of the port.
NAVIGATION CHARTS
10 Chart corrections depicting the limits of the bunkering anchorages have been
promulgated in Singaporean Notices to Mariners Monthly Edition No 3 of 2004.
Masters are advised to insert the limits of the anchorages on the affected charts.
11 Please contact Capt Donald D’Cruz Tel: 6325-2460 on pilotage matters or Mr
Tan Lay Thok at Tel: 6325-2470 on port dues matters, if you need further
clarification.
EDMUND WEE
for PORTMASTER
MARITIME AND PORT AUTHORITY OF SINGAPORE
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Appendix 2
INFORMATION TO ASSIST SHIPMASTERS IN PLANNING THE PASSAGE OF
VESSELS TO THE BUNKERING ANCHORAGES IN THE WESTERN SECTOR OF
THE PORT
Pilotage
1 Pilotage exemption may be granted for vessels with arrival drafts not
exceeding 11.5 metres. Masters who are not familiar with the waters in the area are
advised to engage the services of a pilot.
2 Vessels with drafts of more than 11.5 metres are required to engage the
services of authorised pilots to navigate in and out of these anchorages. Vessels
with drafts of more than 16.5 metres would be diverted to other suitable anchorages
for bunkering activities.
Tidal information
3 Current information at half-hour intervals is available at the Singapore
Maritime Portal (SMP) website under the title of “Digital Tidal Atlas”. The address for
SMP is:
http://www.singaporemaritimeportal.com
Owners and agents may download the relevant pages and sent them through e-mail
or fax, if their shipmasters are unable to access the Internet.
4 As the simulated current predictions may vary from the actual current, a realtime
current meter will be installed by 1 Apr 2004 in the vicinity of the anchorages.
On arrival, shipmasters may contact “Port Operations West” (on VHF Channel 68)
for a real-time reading of the current meter. This would provide an indication of the
direction and rate of the current flow that may, at times, exceed 2.5 knots.
Approach to the anchorages
5 Whilst arriving and departing from the anchorage, shipmasters are advised to
plan their approach in advance taking into consideration, amongst other factors, the
flow of the current, the depth of water and their effect on the vessels. Attention is
drawn to the presence of two gas pipelines west of the Sudong Bunkering
Anchorage ‘A’. Shipmasters are advised to ascertain the vessel’s position prior to
letting go the anchor in the anchorage.
(a) West-Going Tidal Stream
Strong currents may be expected from the Sinki Fairway, Selat Sudong
and Selat Pawai during the westgoing tidal stream. These streams may
set the vessel towards Raffles Shoal and into the westbound lane of the
traffic separation scheme (TSS). Masters of vessels are advised to
carefully monitor the vessel’s position when proceeding to the
bunkering anchorages.
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At anchor
(b) East-Going Tidal Stream
(i) A vessel approaching the bunkering anchorages from the west
during the eastgoing stream will experience a stern current. Masters
of vessels arriving at the port from the west are therefore advised to
continue along the eastbound lane of the Singapore Strait TSS and
approach the anchorages from the east stemming the current. Prior
to crossing the westbound traffic lane the vessel should notify VTIS
Central on VHF Ch 14.
(ii) A vessel with good manoeuvring characteristics and equipped with
a good working bow-thruster, may approach the anchorages from
the west if the tidal stream is weaker. The Master should however
exercise caution and approach at a speed that will allow the vessel
to stop in time, swing around and safely anchor.
6 Whilst at anchor, the vessel should pay out sufficient scope of cable (at least
six (6) shackles of chain in the water) and maintain an anchor watch at all times. For
the information of Masters, squalls called ‘Sumatras’ are common from April to
November during the Southwest Monsoon and inter-monsoon periods. They are
generally experienced in the pre-dawn and early hours between 0300hrs and
0900hrs.
Live-firing Area
7 The New Southern Islands Live Firing Area is a restricted area. Masters of
vessels proceeding to the Sudong bunkering anchorages are to keep out of this
area. As low-flying aircraft operate in the vicinity of the live firing area, the master,
owners and agents of vessels with heights exceeding 75 metres must notify the
RSAF - Air Operation Centre when in the western sector of the port via facsimile
(Fax No. 6760-5521).
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