MFA renews call for M’sia to withdraw ships from S’pore waters after collision

SINGAPORE — Singapore’s authorities have renewed their call for Malaysia to withdraw its vessels from the Republic's territorial waters off Tuas, after two ships collided in the area on Saturday (Feb 9).

In response to media queries on Sunday, Singapore’s Foreign Affairs Ministry (MFA) said the persistent presence of Malaysian vessels “clearly poses a threat to safety of navigation in the area”.

“As we have said previously, Malaysia will be responsible for any untoward situations on the ground that arise from continued deployment of its vessels into this area,” added a spokesperson for the ministry.

On Saturday, Polaris — a Malaysian government vessel which has been intruding into Singapore’s waters since December — collided with Greek merchant ship Pireas.

Pireas was en route to its next port of call at Tanjung Pelepas in Johor, Malaysia when the incident happened at 2.28pm.

This was after Pireas entered Singapore’s port limits off Tuas at 1.55pm, slowed down and changed direction, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) said in an update on Sunday.

The ship had earlier refuelled at Singapore’s eastern bunkering anchorage in the south of Bedok.

There were no reports of an oil leak or injuries, the MPA added.

The agency said that its Port Operations Control Centre had established contact with Pireas and instructed its crew to stay clear of the port limits off Tuas. This was when the ship’s crew reported that it had collided with Polaris, but there was no damage to the vessel.

“Pireas informed that the collision occurred when it was making a manoeuvre to get out of the area,” the MPA said.

“As the collision… was not considered a very serious marine casualty incident under the International Maritime Organisation Marine Casualty Investigation Code, the vessel was allowed to proceed with its journey to Tanjung Pelepas.”

Malaysia has detained the crew on board the Pireas for a “preliminary inquiry”, based on Malaysian media reports.

The MPA, which began investigating the incident immediately, said on Sunday that it sent official notifications to the Marine Department Malaysia and Greece’s Hellenic Bureau for Marine Casualties Investigation to tell them about the collision.

It has contacted Pireas’ agent in Singapore to assist in the investigations as well.

The agency is also gathering and reviewing information, such as vessel records and video footage of the collision, and has requested a formal incident report from the two ships.

VESSELS SHOULD COMPLY WITH REGULATIONS: MPA

The MFA reiterated that the collision took place in Singapore’s territorial waters off Tuas in the west of the island — an area that goes beyond Malaysia’s 1979 territorial claim which the Republic “has never recognised”.

Singapore and Malaysia are locked in a maritime boundary standoff, after Malaysia extended unilaterally Johor Baru’s port limits on Oct 25.

Singapore responded by extending its own port limits off Tuas on Dec 6, after Malaysian vessels intruded into its waters repeatedly for two weeks.

These included vessels from the Marine Department Malaysia and the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency.

The MPA has said that it was “deeply concerned” about the presence of the unauthorised vessels in the Republic’s port limits, which could cause confusion for the global shipping community and threaten navigational safety.

It advised the shipping community to “ensure that vessels operating within Singapore port limits comply with the applicable regulations, including reporting their movements and to anchor only within designated anchorages”.