By Jite Eriabie
Two more bodies of seafarers, former crew members of JBB De Rong 19 dredger, have been recovered in Singapore territorial waters since the fatal collision between the dredger and tanker Kartika Segara that occurred on September 13.
This brings the total body count to four of the five persons that went missing following the accident, according to the latest update from the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore. The last crew member remains missing.
“The first body was found south of Raffles Lighthouse in Singapore waters on September 16, 2017, and family members of the crew member have since claimed the body. A second body was found 1.9 nautical miles northwest of Tanjung Sengkuang in Indonesian waters, off Batam, on September 17 and is in the process of being claimed by family members.
“The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore will continue to issue safety broadcasts to ships in the area to keep a lookout for the last crew member,” MPA Singapore said.
The ships collided while they were some 1.7 nautical miles south-west of Sisters Island, causing the Dominican-registered dredger to capsize. Kartika Segara reported damage to its starboard bow, nevertheless, the 26 Indonesian crew did not sustain any injuries.
The incident happened while the dredger was transiting the westbound lane and the tanker was departing Singapore and joining the eastbound lane of the Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS) in the Singapore Strait.
Commenting on the collision, MPA said earlier that prior to the collision, Singapore’s Vessel Traffic Information System (VTIS) had provided timely navigational information and warnings to both vessels to take preventive actions to avoid a collision.
“While the vessels acknowledged the information provided by the Singapore VTIS, the collision was not averted.”
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