Hit-and-Run Container Vessel Caught in Malaysia
By Aiswarya Lakshmi
February 24, 2016
A runaway container vessel which was involved in a hit and run accident with two other vessels was seized by the Malaysia Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) DM 7 Tanjung Sedili District in the waters of Tanjung Ramunia.
The accident, which took place in the evening Feb 18 in Singapore Strait off Batu Ayam, Malaysia.
Tankers TINA 7 and STRAITS 3 were anchored some 2.7 nm off the coast, when passing MV OLF hit them both, inflicting damages.
The 40,000 dwt MV OLF didn’t stop or contacted damaged ships, and sailed away. Vessel is en route from Hong Kong to India with 16 crew, comprising of Indian and Sri Lanka nationalities.
The Olf was under way from Hong Kong to India at the time of the allision, and was allegedly making for Indonesian waters when MMEA assets caught up to her, said MMEA Captain Amran Daud.
Amran said MMEA also tracked down and boarded the MV OLF, registered in Basseterre, Saint Kitts & Nevis, which had not stopped to give assistance after the collision and was believed to have headed for Indonesian waters.
He said MMEA had mobilised a team aided by the Singapore Coast Guard and the Indonesian Maritime Security Board to locate the MV OLF.
"The MMEA radar detected the MV OLF in the waters off Tanjung Ramunia on Feb 21," he said.
Amran said the collision also resulted in oil spillage and an alert was sounded to both the Singapore and Indonesian Coast Guards to assist in locating the runaway vessel.
The ship was built in 1999 by Gdynia Shipyard in Poland and managed by German company Wulff Reederei, operating under the flag of Liberia. The owner was not immediately available for comment.
