A ship has sunk in the Singapore Strait, raising fears about containers adrift near one of the world’s busiest maritime corridors.
The 2,400-dwt deck cargo vessel Golden Star 1 (built 1995) sank about 6 km off Indonesia’s Batam Island at around 9.30 pm local time on 5 June after reportedly taking on water.
Singapore’s Maritime and Port Authority (MPA) said on 6 June that it was issuing navigational broadcasts advising vessels transiting the area to exercise caution and report any containers seen floating at sea.No details have been released regarding the vessel’s cargo or the number of containers on board.
All nine crew members on board the Tanzania-flagged vessel were rescued safely by Indonesian authorities, according to the MPA, which said traffic in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore remained unaffected despite the sinking.There were no reports of oil pollution in Singapore waters as of 6 June.
Singapore-registered Pancon Shipping owns and manages the Golden Star 1, the only vessel in its fleet.
It has been withdrawn from Rina classification, and does not appear to have a protection and indemnity club.
The vessel had a market value of $1.25m and a demolition value of $540,000, according to VesselsValue. It departed Singapore at about 8pm local time on 5 June, heading to Malaysia, according to MarineTraffic.
Pancon Shipping could not be reached via telephone for comment.
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