RFC Chairman, Capt Segar;
Distinguished Head of Delegation of Malaysia, Mr. Wan Abdul Latiff;
Distinguished Head of Delegation of Indonesia, Capt Mugen Suprihatin Sartoto;
Distinguished Head of Delegation of Malacca Strait Council of Japan, Mr Kenji Nagamatsu, who is joining us virtually today;  
Distinguished Indonesia Delegates;
Distinguished Malaysia Delegates;
Distinguished Guests; 

Ladies and Gentlemen, 

A very good morning to all. I would first like to extend a warm welcome to our foreign guests to Singapore. As I understand, this is the first physical meeting after more than 2 years of virtual meetings and exercises due to the Covid-19 pandemic. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Malaysia for adapting quickly to the limitations caused by the pandemic during their Chairmanship, allowing the Revolving Fund Committee to persevere in the new normal.

2          We are gathered here today, not only to mark the transfer of the management of the Revolving Fund from Malaysia to Singapore, but to also commemorate the 41^st anniversary of the Revolving Fund. Even after 40 years, the commitment of Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Japan through its many organisations such as the Malacca Straits Council, Nippon Foundation and Japan Association of Marine Safety. We are here today to promote navigational safety and protect the marine environment in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore and this remains as strong as ever in our commitment to do so.  

International Efforts on Marine Pollution

3          Marine pollution remains as an important issue for the shipping community. On the international front, the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) first adopted the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, also known as MARPOL, in 1973. MARPOL has greatly contributed to a significant decrease in pollution caused by international shipping by addressing the technical, operational and human element issues, and ensuring that oil and chemical tankers are built and operate by the highest standards.  International Regulatory Requirements will continue to play a vital role in addressing marine environment issues contributed by international shipping. 

Regional Efforts on Marine Pollution 

4          The Straits of Malacca and Singapore, also known as the SOMS, are among the busiest and most critical waterways in the world with about 120,000 vessels each year, carrying one-third of the world’s trade and half of the world’s oil supply. It is therefore critical for the three littoral States to collaborate to ensure that the SOMS are kept safe and open to traffic. The Revolving Fund is a good example of cooperation between the littoral States and the users of the Straits of Malacca and Singapore to safeguard the marine environment. 

5          The Revolving Fund was established in 1981 through the Memorandum of Understanding signed by Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and the Malacca Strait Council, with the latter contributing the principal sum of 400 million yen for the Revolving Fund. The Revolving Fund allows any of the three littoral States to draw from the fund to take immediate remedial actions to combat oil pollution caused by ships stranded in the SOMS. The amount drawn will be repaid when the State recovers the clean-up costs from the ship owners or insurance companies. Over the years, the Revolving Fund has proven to be a valuable resource, in particular the “Nagasaki Spirit’ Oil Spill Incident in 1992 and the “Natuna Sea” Oil Spill Incident in 2000. With the advances from the Revolving Fund, the littoral States were able to take prompt actions to handle the incidents. 

6          With the establishment of the Revolving Fund, the littoral States came together to develop a set of Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for Joint Oil Spill Response in the SOMS. Regular joint exercises were also carried out to test the procedures, and lessons learnt from these exercises were used to continually improve and update the SOP to make it more robust and ensure that it remains relevant. The latest oil spill response exercise, known as RFC Ex-Kukup, was held in a hybrid manner in Oct 2021. The exercise went ahead with full participation from all littoral States, despite the ongoing battle with Covid-19. This truly exhibits the commitment that we have to the RFC and the SOMS. Workshops are also organised to ensure that relevant officers are kept abreast of the latest developments regarding oil spill clean-up and recovery, as well as other related issues. The Revolving Fund sponsors their participation in such workshops and conferences.

7          Just a few weeks ago, many of you would have read about the Djibouti registered VLCC, ‘Young Yong’ which was grounded in the Riau Islands. Imagine if some of the carried oil would have spilled into the Straits of Malacca and Singapore. In today’s context, this will affect shipping not only in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore, but also vessels leading to Northeast Asia. In this regard, I would like to put on record our sincere thanks to our Indonesian colleagues for taking swift actions and for keeping the situation at bay. We are not completely out the woods yet, there are still oil left in the vessel, but we hope that it is out of the most dangerous phase and that we did not have to tap into the Revolving Fund. This exemplifies how important and forward-looking the RFC was in establishing the Fund more than 40 years ago. 

Profiling of Revolving Fund 

8          In the recent years, under the Chairmanship of Malaysia, the team had embarked on several initiatives to profile the work of the RFC to a wider audience. The RFC adopted a new Logo and developed a dedicated RFC website, detailing the various reports and work done by the Committee. We thank our Malaysia colleagues for this strong leadership. To mark the significant milestone of the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the RFC, a publication, “Revolving Fund – 40 years of Excellence” was launched at the 40^th RFC meeting in 2021, highlighting four (4) decades of hard work in safeguarding the SOMS. I would like to take this opportunity to thank RFC Malaysia in spearheading these initiatives and all the members who had participated in them. 

Conclusion

9          As world trade continues to expand and shipping traffic increases, the responsibility of maintaining safety and preserving the marine environment in the SOMS will grow in tandem. The Revolving Fund serves as an effective mechanism for this purpose. 

10        There is a Malay saying, “Hendah seribu daya, tak hemdal seribi dalih” which means that if you are willing, there are a thousand ways to try to achieve it. If not, there are always a thousand excuses. Through 40 years of hard work, we are working together to make more than a thousand steps for the Straits of Malacca and Singapore to remain vibrant and open to all shipping, for the benefit of all littoral states and also for all users of the Straits of Malacca and Singapore.

11        Last but not least, on behalf of the members of the Revolving Fund Committee, I would like to once again thank Malaysia, for the excellent work in the past 5 years in managing the Revolving Fund, in particular during the challenging past 2 years. Singapore will endeavour to maintain the same high standards as we take over the management of the Fund and the Chairmanship of the Committee for the next five years.  

Thank you.