The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) has released an update on the collision between Indonesian-registered tanker KARTIKA SEGARA and Dominican-registered dredger JBB DE RONG 19 that occurred yesterday in Singapore.
According to the update, divers taking part in the the search and rescue operations yesterday managed to recover two bodies out of the five missing crew of JBB DE RONG 19.
“ Of the two crew members who were warded in hospital yesterday, one has since been discharged and one remains under observation at the Singapore General Hospital. The total surface search area was expanded to 250 km2 from 130km2 on 13 September 2017. The aerial search area has also expanded to 2701km2 from 770km2 ,” siad MPA.
MPA also added that as of 6pm today (Singapore time), multi-agencies SAR efforts to locate the remaining three missing crew of the Dominican-registered dredger are still ongoing.
The incident took place some 1.7 nautical miles south-west of Sisters Island, in the westbound lane of the Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS), in the Singapore Strait at about 12.40am (Singapore time) on 13 September 2017. The dredger was transiting the westbound lane while the tanker was departing Singapore joining the eastbound lane of the when the incident occurred.
Prior to the collision, Singapore’s Vessel Traffic Information System (VTIS) had provided timely navigational information and warnings to both vessels to take preventive actions to avoid a collision. While the vessels acknowledged the information provided by the Singapore VTIS, the collision was not averted.
At the moment, there have been no reports of oil spill or disruption to shipping traffic in the Singapore Strait. MPA is investigating the incident.