SINGAPORE: A robot that collects oil on the water’s surface and a laser gun that can vaporise oil stains are among new technologies that Singapore is exploring to tackle future oil spills. voslot
These solutions could have helped in the aftermath of the June oil spill that occurred in the southern waters of Singapore, said their developers at a media demonstration on Thursday (Oct 10).
The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), which organised the demonstration, said in a statement on Friday that testing new technologies is part of ongoing efforts to boost its incident management capabilities and provide testbed opportunities for innovators.
The demonstrations were part of the biennial Joint Oil Spill Exercise, which tests agencies and companies on their response to oil spill incidents.
The Korean-made robot - called the KOBOT-S - is remote-controlled and acts as a “first responder” when there is an oil spill.
It does this by using “ratchet technology”, a cylinder made of a nanomaterial foam structure that is super absorbent and capable of separating oil and water.
The foam structure has ridges, and it spins and siphons oils of both high and low viscosity into a storage bag.
The floating device can recover between 200kg and 500kg of oil on the water’s surface per hour into the bagvoslot, which holds up to 700kg of oil. The storage bag can then be detached and swapped out when full.
KOAI chief executive officer Tony Park controlling the KOBOT-S remotely in the waters of ONE°15 Marina at Sentosa Cove, on Oct 10, 2024. (Photo: CNA/Ili Nadhirah Mansor)