A beach in eastern Thailand was declared a disaster area on Saturday as oil leaking from an underwater pipeline in the Gulf of Thailand continued to wash ashore and blacken the sand.

The leak from the pipeline owned by Star Petroleum Refining Public Company Limited (SPRC) (SPRC.BK) started late on Tuesday and was brought under control a day later after spilling an estimated 50,000 litres (13,209 gallons) of oil into the ocean 20 km (12 miles) from the country’s industrialised eastern seaboard.

Some of the oil reached the shoreline at Mae Ramphueng beach in Rayong province late on Friday after spreading over 47 sq km (18 sq miles) of sea in the gulf.

The navy is working with SPRC to contain the leak and said the main oil mass was still offshore with only a small amount washing up on at least two spots along the 12-km-long beach.

About 150 SPRC workers and 200 navy personnel had been deployed to clean up the beach and oil boom barriers had been set up, the navy said.

Twelve navy ships and three civilian ships along with a number of aircraft were also working to contain the spill at sea with booms and dispersant spray.

“We and the company are still working at sea to reduce the amount of oil by cornering the spill and sucking up the oil and spraying dispersant,” Rear Admiral Artorn Charapinyo, deputy commander of the first Naval Area command, told reporters.

Developed in Spain, the Arca system integrates solar panels, power electronics, and energy storage. Arca Lite has a rated power of 490 Wp, and Arca Plus of 980 Wp.

The Spanish companies Solartia and IED — experts in energy and electronics, respectively — have launched Arca, an autonomous solar power generator described as a robust and low-maintenance system that aims to alleviate energy poverty.

The system integrates solar panels, power electronics, energy storage and prepayment in a compact, robust and simple way, which allows it to be able to supply energy permanently anywhere in the world, according to the manufacturer.

The solution is also designed to be installed in any location without qualified personnel.

Arca Lite has a rated installed power of 490 Wp, and Arca Plus of 980 Wp. The voltage range is 30-50 V and 60-100 V, respectively.

The system also features encapsulated electronics, which are claimed to allow the device to withstand up to 100% relative humidity, as well as LiFePO4 batteries.

A charge and discharge algorithm prevents overcharging and deep discharging of the system, offering between 3,000 and 6,000 cycles at 80% depth of discharge (DoD).

The system can assess the state of the battery in terms of the deterioration of its storage capacity and can thus carry out predictive maintenance, according to the manufacturers.

Its passive cooling avoids the use of active elements such as fans, which shorten the lifetime of the system.

Arca can work at temperatures between -15 to 65 degrees Celsius. The manufacturers offer a 7-year warranty.

The system is also said to be able to model the usage patterns of users to know the energy needs of the network to which it is connected.

Lagos State Government has embarked on the removal of all shanties along the Lekki Coastal road axis in a bid to further protect the Coastal Road alignment.

The General Manager, New Towns Development Authority (NTDA), Tpl. Olakunle Aboyeji, who led the exercise, stated that the squatters and miscreants who had illegally converted the Lekki Coastal Road, Lekki Penisula Scheme I, Maroko beach extension and the adjoining roads to their abode and commercial centre, posed a huge security risk to residents of the area and the adjoining communities.

He recalled that each time the stretch of land along the axis was cleared, the dislodged illegal squatters and miscreants, who occupied the roadside and constitute nuisance in the axis, would come back to rebuild their shanties because the construction of the coastal road was yet to commence.

Aboyeji pointed out that the government allowed temporary occupants, who put the land to good use, instead of squatters building shanties and embarking on illegal activities along the coastal road.

The General Manager dismissed allegations that the land along the coastal line has been sold with approval given to people to build permanent structures, maintaining that the position of the State Government had earlier been echoed by the Honourable Commissioner for Information and Strategy.

His words: “The Lagos State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Gbenga Omotoso, had earlier stated that anytime the government needs to continue work on the Coastal Road, the work will continue.

Nobody has any permission to build something that is permanent here”.

Aboyeji averred that the sanity and security of the environment were paramount to the State Government and that the Authority will continue to dismantle all illegal structures along the Coastal Road to rid it of squatters and miscreants pending the time the road construction will begin.

Lagos State Government has embarked on the removal of all shanties along the Lekki Coastal road axis in a bid to further protect the Coastal Road alignment.

The General Manager, New Towns Development Authority (NTDA), Tpl. Olakunle Aboyeji, who led the exercise, stated that the squatters and miscreants who had illegally converted the Lekki Coastal Road, Lekki Penisula Scheme I, Maroko beach extension and the adjoining roads to their abode and commercial centre, posed a huge security risk to residents of the area and the adjoining communities.

He recalled that each time the stretch of land along the axis was cleared, the dislodged illegal squatters and miscreants, who occupied the roadside and constitute nuisance in the axis, would come back to rebuild their shanties because the construction of the coastal road was yet to commence.

Aboyeji pointed out that the government allowed temporary occupants, who put the land to good use, instead of squatters building shanties and embarking on illegal activities along the coastal road.

The General Manager dismissed allegations that the land along the coastal line has been sold with approval given to people to build permanent structures, maintaining that the position of the State Government had earlier been echoed by the Honourable Commissioner for Information and Strategy.

His words: “The Lagos State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Gbenga Omotoso, had earlier stated that anytime the government needs to continue work on the Coastal Road, the work will continue.

Nobody has any permission to build something that is permanent here”.

Aboyeji averred that the sanity and security of the environment were paramount to the State Government and that the Authority will continue to dismantle all illegal structures along the Coastal Road to rid it of squatters and miscreants pending the time the road construction will begin.