Car carrier sinks in Singapore Strait
The “Hyundai 105,” a Panamanian-registered car carrier, sank Sunday in the Singapore Strait after a collision with “Kaminesan,” a tanker, on Saturday night.
All 20 crewmen from the “Hyundai 105” were rescued before the carrier went down with 4,000 cars on board. No injuries were reported aboard the “Kaminesan,” which was carrying 279,949 tons of crude oil.
According to the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, the car carrier was heading westbound in the strait and the tanker eastbound when the collision occurred at 11:45 p.m. Saturday.
The “Hyundai 105,” which the authority said “sustained damage on its port side with a hole measuring about 50 meters by 20 meters,” sank at 7:15 a.m. the next morning.
The authority reported that the bow and forepeak tank of the “Kaminesan” had been damaged. The tanker was also registered in Panama.
“Prior to the collision, warnings were given to the two vessels by the Maritime and Port Authority’s traffic information service. The two ships also communicated with each other,” the authority said in a statement.
The authority has warned passing vessels to keep clear of the sunken car carrier. The tanker remains anchored southeast of Sentosa Island, away from the main shipping lane.