SINGAPORE, Sept 14 – Three crew of the Dominican-registered dredger JBB DE RONG 19 reported missing have yet to be found. On Wednesday, divers had recovered the bodies of two of the five missing crew following a collision with an Indonesian-registered tanker Kartika Segara in the Singapore territorial waters at about 12.40am on that unfortunate morning.
A Malaysian was one of the five missing crew of a dredger that capsized and lay partly submerged but it has yet to be confirmed whether one of the bodies found was that of the Malaysian. In its latest update today, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) said as of 6pm, multi-agencies search and rescue (SAR) efforts to locate the remaining missing crew was still ongoing.
The statement said that the dredger had collided with the tanker despite collision warnings issued by the MPA. MPA noted that of the two crew members who were warded in hospital yesterday (one has since been discharged) and one remained under observation at the Singapore General Hospital.
The Authority said it has today continued to lead the SAR operations with support from relevant Singapore agencies. It said the total surface search area was expanded to 250km² from 130km² on Sept 13 while the aerial search area has also expanded to 2,701km² from 770km².
The SAR, supported by assets from the Singapore agencies, include five aircraft from the Republic of Singapore Air Force, 21 vessels from MPA, the Republic of Singapore Navy, Singapore Police Coast Guard and Singapore Civil Defence Force; and eight vessels from PSA Marine and POSH Semco.
To date, about 280 personnel have been involved in the SAR operations, it said. In additional, MPA also said that the Indonesian Rescue Coordination Centre is working with Singapore authorities to assist the SAR operations with 10 vessels in Indonesian territorial waters. — Bernama
