Malaysia: “Ceres 1” did not flee collision site but drifted away, says authorities

Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) on Tuesday (30 July) said oil tanker Ceres 1 that was involved in a collision with Singapore-flagged tanker Hafnia Nile did not flee the scene of the incident.

The São Tomé and Príncipe-flagged tanker collided with Hafnia Nile on 19 July and both caught fire about 55 km northeast of the Singaporean island of Pedra Branca.

According to initial reports by MMEA, Ceres 1 was initially suspected of attempting to flee the scene after the collision with its Automatic Identification System (AIS) switched off. 

Deputy director-general (Operations) Maritime Malaysia Rear Admiral (Maritime) Mohd Zawawi Abdullah said the engine of Ceres 1 was not fully functioning, resulting in the ship being swept away by the current from the collision area along with the two tugboats.

He also informed that the two tug boats were appointed by the ship’s agent to cool Ceres 1 and assist with the firefight. However, they were not strong enough to tow the tanker to return to the place of incident causing the two tugboats to also drift along with Ceres 1.

Mohd Zawawi said this during a press conference with Director General of Malaysia’s Marine Department Capt Mohamad Halim Ahmed on Tuesday. 

Zawawi informed 14 out of 40 crew of Ceres 1 have been rescued by RSS Supreme, while the remaining 26 crew members are on board with all of them safe and no casualties were reported.

MMEA added Ceres 1 was reported to be at 8.4 nautical miles northeast of Sedili Besar while Hafnia Nile is at the position of 17.2 nautical miles southeast of Tanjung Sedili in Malaysian waters under the supervision of the Malaysian Maritime Department for the purpose of salvage works.

Related: “Ceres 1” goes dark after collision with Singapore-flagged tanker, located by MMEA
Related: MPA: Fire breaks out on two ships near Pedra Branca, search and rescue underway

Photo credit: Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency
Published: 1 August 2024