Malaysia-registered tanker sinks off Pedra Branca
All eight crew members of a Malaysia-registered tanker which sank in Singapore territorial waters off Pedra Branca have been rescued, said the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) on Jan 12.
MPA said in a statement that it was alerted to a distress call from a Malaysia-registered tanker, Silver Sincere, at about 3.40pm.
The master of the Silver Sincere, who reported that it was taking in water, had evacuated all the crew from the sinking vessel, said MPA.
Silver Sincere, which was built in 1987, has since sunk in Singapore territorial waters off Pedra Branca.
The crew members were safely recovered from the vessel’s life rafts by Indonesia-registered freighter Intan Daya 368, which was directed by MPA to help with the rescue.
All crew are in healthy condition and will be disembarked at Batu Ampar, Indonesia, said MPA.
As part of the search-and-rescue efforts, MPA had also deployed its craft, together with craft from the Republic of Singapore Navy, and the Singapore Police Coast Guard.
The search-and-rescue phase has been completed, MPA said.
For the vessel recovery phase, MPA has activated salvage tugs. As a precaution, oil spill response craft have also been activated.
The authority said it is broadcasting a navigational safety advisory for passing vessels to stay clear of the incident site.
Navigational traffic in the Singapore Strait is not affected, said MPA.
A day earlier, MPA had coordinated a rescue effort after it was alerted to a distress call from a Vietnam-registered freighter.
All 18 crew members were rescued, and “were found to be in healthy condition”.
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