Malaysian investigators have boarded a fire-ravaged Hafnia tanker that collided with a VLCC in the South China Sea.
The 74,200-dwt Hafnia Nile (built 2017) was severely damaged when it caught fire after the collision with the 300,000-dwt Ceres I (built 2001) on 19 July close to the entrance of the Singapore Strait.
A team from the Malaysian Marine Department boarded the vessel earlier this week “as part of the ongoing investigation into the incident”, Hafnia said on Thursday.
“In accordance with standard procedures for such investigations, the Hafnia Nile remains anchored to facilitate close collaboration and ensure the investigation proceeds smoothly.”
The product tanker, which was hauling a cargo of about 300,000 barrels of naphtha, has an oil boom placed off the stern and the damaged area to limit any leaks.
Oil from a damaged fuel tank and pump room is being transferred to a barge alongside, the company said.
The head of the Marine Department, director general Mohamad Halim Ahmed, said earlier this week that preliminary investigations suggested that the Ceres I was anchored before the accident owing to technical issues, Reuters reported.
The Hafnia Nile’s efforts to avoid the VLCC failed, resulting in the collision, he said. The damaged Ceres I also caught alight.
Malaysia’s coast guard initially reported that the Ceres I tried to flee the area with its AIS switched off, under the tow of two tugs.
But the director general reportedly said this week that it drifted from the location because its anchor was damaged, before being found and detained by the coast guard.
TradeWinds reported this week that the manager of the VLCC is listed as Blueshark Shipping, a previously unknown Singapore-based operator.
Its recorded office address is a workshop for a company that repairs marine equipment.
Tanker and ship management sources said the company is likely to exist only on paper, with the main controllers in China.
