Two crew members airlifted to hospital after vessels catch fire near Pedra Branca

TWO crewmen were airlifted to the Singapore General Hospital after two shipping vessels caught fire near the island of Pedra Branca on Friday (Jul 19).

The Singapore-flagged tanker Hafnia Nile had 22 crew members, and the Sao Tome and Principe-flagged tanker Ceres I had 40. All the members have been accounted for, and no Singaporeans were on board, said the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA).

Earlier, MPA had announced that a search-and-rescue mission was under way near the coast of Singapore, and asked passing vessels to help in the operation.

MPA was alerted to the fires on board the two vessels at about 6.15 am. The stricken vessels were then about 55 km north-east of Pedra Branca, which is within Singapore’s maritime search and rescue region.

A Republic of Singapore Navy ship, RSS Supreme, was in the area during the incident and was providing help, said MPA on Friday morning.

A Republic of Singapore Air Force helicopter was also dispatched and was assisting with evacuating the crew, it added.

It noted that the navy ship picked up 16 crew members from the Hafnia Nile; six other members were picked up by a Malaysian government vessel and transferred to the ship.

Fourteen crew members from Ceres I were picked up by a Singapore-flagged supply vessel, which was in the area at the time. The pair who were evacuated by helicopter and taken to hospital were from this group.

The remaining 26 Ceres I crew are fighting the fire on board, said MPA.

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“Salvage and firefighting assets have been arranged by both vessel owners to support the firefighting efforts and subsequent towage of the vessels to safety,” the authority added.

It also noted that navigational traffic is not affected.