JOHOR BARU: Eleven incidents involving vessels passing through eastern Johor waters have been recorded since 2021.
The area is part of a busy global trade route as it connects the East and the West with an average of 80,000 vessels passing through it on a yearly basis, a Marine Department southern region spokesman said.
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The area is also where the Pengerang Integrated Petroleum Complex, Johor Port in Pasir Gudang, and Singapore Port, are located.
“This results in a high number of vessels passing through eastern Johor waters here, making it a risky, accident-prone area.
“This makes it trickier for vessels,” the spokesman said, adding that a vessel caught fire while two collision cases were recorded in 2021.“In 2022, only two cases were recorded but last year, there were five incidents in eastern Johor waters.
“The most recent incident occurred on July 19 this year when two vessels collided some 25 nautical miles northeast of Tanjung Balau near Kota Tinggi.”
The spokesman added that accidents still occur although all vessels are equipped with the latest navigation systems like the automatic identification system (AIS).
Most incidents were caused by the vessel’s faulty engine or bad weather, although human error cannot be ruled out.
“This is because the vessels must arrive at the port on schedule.
“They cannot reach their port of destination earlier or later than scheduled or a collision could result,” the spokesman said.
He added that the department is working closely with agencies such as the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency to make the waters safer.
