January 13 ------ Singapore's Maritime and Port Authority rescued eight crewmembers from a sinking tanker just off Pedra Branca, a lighthouse installation at the eastern entrance to the Singapore Strait - the second sinking in two days in the Singaporean search and rescue zone.
At about 1540 hours, the master of the small product tanker Silver Sincere reported that the vessel was taking on water and that the crew was abandoning ship. All crewmembers safely evacuated into a life raft, and they were saved by a good Samaritan freighter, the Intan Daya 368. All survivors were in good health when delivered to shore at Batu Ampar, Indonesia. With search and rescue complete, the MPA has transitioned to a pollution-control response for the Silver Sincere. Salvage tugs and a spill-abatement vessel have been activated and dispatched to the scene; as of yet, no oil pollution has been reported.
So far, the busy traffic lanes of the Singapore Strait have not been affected, but the MPA is broadcasting a safety advisory to shipping to stay clear of the wreck site.
Just one day earlier, a good Samaritan ship rescued the crew of a sinking Vietnamese freighter in the South China Sea, off the coast of peninsular Malaysia but within Singapore's vast search and rescue zone. The yard-and-stay freighter Dolphin 18 sent a distress call on Saturday morning and reported that they were going down. The call was received by the 2,200 TEU container feeder Nicolai Maersk, which reported it to the Singapore MPA Maritime Rescue Coordination Center (MRCC) at about 0700 hours. Nikolai Maersk safely rescued 18 crewmembers from their life rafts, and all were in good health. Dolphin 18 was reported sunk.
Source: maritime-executive.com
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