KOTA TINGGI: One of the vessels involved in a collision near Tanjung Balau here has gone missing and is believed to still be in Malaysian waters, says the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA).
Its search and rescue (SAR) and disaster relief division director First Admiral Zin Azman Md Yunus said the MT Ceres 1 vessel, registered under the Republic of São Tomé dan Príncipe, could not be found at the site of the collision as of Saturday (July 20) morning.
“The vessel has left the location where the collision took place and turned off its automatic identification system (AIS).
“So far, we do not know the vessel’s condition as it could not be contacted. However, we believe that it is still within Malaysian waters and will continue our search and rescue operation,” he said in a statement here.
He added that the vessel’s move to leave the scene and turn off its AIS has raised suspicion.
“Further checks also found that there was some amiss about the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) number of the vessel.
“The decision to leave the scene also raises suspicion. However, we will continue efforts to search for the vessel and MMEA is also prepared to rescue its crewmen, who are believed to still be on board,” he said.
On Friday (July 20), the MMEA activated its search and rescue operation following the collision between MT Celes 1 and Singapore-registered vessel MT Hafnia Nile.
Zin Ahmad added that the collision at about 25 nautical miles northeast of Tanjung Balau caused the MT Hafnia Nile vessel to be caught on fire.
“The search and rescue operation activated at about 6.55am on Friday (July 19) also received a response from Singapore as the first responder.
“Singapore’s navy has rescued the 22 crew members of the MT Hafnia Nile vessel and sent them to the Island Republic for further treatment,” he said.
