ReCAAP ISC issues Incident Alert for ships underway in the eastbound lane of Singapore Strait

Since ReCAAP ISC had issued Incident Alert 05/2019 on 23 October 2019 on ‘Incidents involving ships while underway in the eastbound lane of Singapore Strait’, another four incidents were reported in the eastbound lane of the Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS) of the Singapore Strait.

Three actual incidents occurred in the eastern sector of the Strait within a period of five days during 23-27 November and one attempted incident occurred in the western sector on 25 October. The four victim ships were two bulk carriers (actual incidents), one chemical tanker (attempted incident) and one tug boat & barge (actual incident).

(Another attempted incident against a chemical tanker was reported on 5 November in the westbound lane of TSS in the western sector of the Strait when the tanker was on the way to the eastbound lane.)   

With the occurrence of seven incidents from September to November 2019 in the eastbound lane of the Singapore Strait (in both western and eastern sectors), ReCAAP ISC advices all ships to exercise enhanced vigilance, adopt extra precautionary measures and report all incidents immediately to the nearest coastal State.  ReCAAP ISC recommends to the law enforcement agencies of the littoral States to step up surveillance, increase patrols and enhance cooperation and coordination among them in order to respond promptly to incidents.