Malaysia coastguard says tanker involved in fire left site, was using dark-fleet waters
- One of two oil tankers involved in a fiery collision left the site of the accident and was believed to have turned off its tracking system
The coastguard said it was tracking the whereabouts of the Sao Tome and Principe-flagged tanker Ceres I, which was suspected to be within Malaysian waters.
The Ceres I was involved in a collision reported early on Friday with the Singapore-flagged Hafnia Nile about 55km (35 miles) northeast of the Singaporean island of Pedra Branca, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) said on Friday.
The 40 crew on the Ceres I were all accounted for, the MPA had said. A Singapore-flagged supply vessel, Dolphin 1, picked up 14 Ceres I crew members, two of whom were evacuated by a Singapore Air Force helicopter, while 26 were conducting firefighting operations on board, the MPA said.
The Chinese owner of the Ceres I could not be reached for comment.
The Ceres I is a very large crude carrier (VLCC) supertanker, which ship-tracking data last showed was carrying around 2 million barrels of Iranian crude.
However, Iran’s oil ministry said on Saturday that neither ship had been carrying Iranian crude.
