The beaches on Sentosa Island, south of Singapore's city state, were closed Saturday due to an oil spill that spread from the nearby shipping terminal.

A Reuters reporter saw a tape barrier separating the oil-stained water and sand at Tanjong Beach.

"Oil slick spotted. Cleaning is in progress. A sign on the beach read: "Please stay away from water."

The website of Sentosa posted an advisory that the water at Tanjong, Palawan, and Siloso beach was closed to swimming and other sea activities for cleaning.

Oil spilled from Pasir Panjang Terminal on Friday after a Dutch-flagged dredger hit a Singapore-flagged stationary bunker vessel. In a Friday evening statement, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore stated that some oil had leaked from a damaged cargo tank of the bunker vessel. "The affected cargo tank has now been isolated and spill contained."

The authority reported that patches of oil had been observed along Tanjong and Palawan beaches, as well as Siloso Beach. The authority said that 16 oil spill response boats were deployed "to continue spraying dispersants and collect the oil slicks at the surface of the water". There is no impact to navigational traffic. The authority stated that the berthing operations at Pasir Panjang Terminal are unaffected.