36 rescued after ship collision: 'A lot of uncertainty as tanker still moving, fire not under control'
A total of 36 seamen were rescued after two ships collided and one caught fire about 55km north-east of Pedra Branca in the early morning of July 19.
Pedra Branca is an island about 24 nautical miles east of Singapore.
The Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) frigate, RSS Supreme, was in the vicinity, and responded to a distress call from the two merchant vessels, Singapore-flagged tanker Hafnia Nile, and a Sao Tome and Príncipe-flagged tanker Ceres 1.
Sao Tome and Príncipe is an island nation west of Central Africa.
A helicopter from the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) was also dispatched to assist with crew evacuation.
A Singapore-flagged supply vessel, Dolphin 1, which was also in the vicinity, picked up 14 of the 40 crew members from Ceres I. Two were evacuated by the RSAF helicopter to Singapore General Hospital.
The remaining 26 crew members remained on board Ceres 1 to fight the fire.
RSS Supreme picked up 16 crew members from Hafnia Nile while another six crew members in a life raft were picked up by a Malaysian government vessel and transferred to RSS Supreme.
The RSN ship returned to Changi Naval Base with the rescued crew members, who were transferred to Changi Naval Medical Centre and Changi General Hospital.
RSN Miltary Expert 3 Kartigaesan Chandran said: "There was a lot of uncertainty as the tanker was still moving and the fire was not under control.
"Our training kept us safe in the challenging conditions as we raced against time to rescue the crew."
All 22 crew members of Hafnia Nile and 40 crew members are Ceres I are accounted for, said the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore.
There were no Singaporeans on board.
