Swift action taken to beach a small products tanker that sprang a leak at the eastern entrance of the Singapore Strait has prevented what could have been a major pollution disaster in Malaysia and Singapore.

The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) told TradeWinds today that the 5,000-gt product tanker Sea Frontier (built 1989) was grounded on an underwater bank off Tanjung Penyusop yesterday after springing a leak.