Tanker sinks in Singapore waters off Pedra Branca, all crew members rescued

SINGAPRE: All crew members of a Malaysia-registered tanker were rescued after the ship sank in Singapore's territorial waters off Pedra Branca on Sunday (Jan 12).

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) said it was alerted to a distress call at about 3.40pm from the Silver Sincere that the vessel was taking in water.

All eight crew members had evacuated from the sinking vessel on life rafts. They were then safely recovered by Indonesia-registered freighter Intan Daya 368, which was directed by MPA to render assistance.

“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 coordinated by MPA has been completed,” said MPA in a news release late on Sunday.

"All crew are in healthy condition and will be disembarked at Batu Ampar, Indonesia," it added.

MPA said that salvage tugs have been activated to recover the vessel. Oil spill response craft have also been activated as a precaution.

It added that it is broadcasting navigational safety advisory for passing vessels to stay clear of the incident site.

Navigational traffic in the Singapore Strait is not affected, it added.

Sunday’s incident came a day after Singapore coordinated the rescue of 18 crew members on a Vietnam-flagged freighter, which issued a distress call when reportedly in Singapore's maritime search and rescue region.

Dolphin 18 was reported to have sunk, but all crew members on board were rescued.