Supply Vessel Sinks in Singapore Shipping Lane

SINGAPORE, Feb 14 (Reuters) – Singapore’s Maritime and Port Authority (MPA) said on Thursday that a small supply and personnel vessel with three Indonesian crew members had capsized and sunk in its territorial waters, near where a similar incident occurred a month ago.

All three crew members aboard the Ocean Cooper 2 are safe and no injuries or oil pollution were reported, the MPA said in a statement, adding that the incident is being investigated.

The MPA said it received a report at 7:15 a.m. on Thursday (2315 GMT on Wednesday) that a Dominica-flagged supply vessel had capsized and sunk in the westbound lane of the Traffic Separation Scheme, about 3 nautical miles from Pedra Branca.

The incident happened in one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes, and the MPA has “issued navigational broadcasts asking ships to navigate with caution in the vicinity of the incident.”

The incident occurred close to where a cable ship capsized after a collision with a tanker in January. In the same area, a U.S. guided missile destroyer collided with an oil tanker in 2017, resulting in 10 deaths. (Reporting by Fathin Ungku; Editing by Henning Gloystein and Tom Hogue)

(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2019.

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