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| Home > Publications and press releases > Reports of Marine Department > Reports & Statistics | ||||
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| A Singapore Registered Container Ship “KOTA
HADIAH” Collided With A Locally Licensed Dredger “A.M. VELLA” With Loss Of Eight Lives |
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| A. The Incident
At about 2143 hours on 12 March 2002, a Singapore registered container ship named “KOTA HADIAH” collided with a locally licensed dredger named “A.M. VELLA”. The collision took place in good weather conditions. The location of the collision was in the approximate position of 22o 21.13’N 114o 02.10’E, which was about 0.35 of a nautical mile (nm) south-east of Ha Pang Light, West of Ma Wan. “Kota Hadiah” sustained minor damage at the bulbous bow while “AM Vella” capsized to port immediately and sank subsequently after being hit at the starboard side in way of the machinery space. Of the fifteen crew members onboard “AM Vella”, eight crew were lost in the incident. B. Findings 1. The primary cause of the incident was the sudden alteration of course to port by "AM Vella" when both vessels were at a distance of about 0.2 nm apart in a nearly head on approach. This sudden alteration of course was most probably caused by the misunderstanding in the VHF conversation by the Master of "AM Vella" prior to the collision, and the confusions of Aspect caused by the movements of "Kota Hadiah" due to the inappropriate maneuvers by the Pilot of "Kota Hadiah". 2. The local master of "AM Vella" was not on the bridge to provide navigational assistance to the foreign master at time of collision. C. The Lessons 1 When close quarter situation or risk of collision is likely to develop, early action to avoid collision should be made in compliance with the International Regulations for Prevention Collisions At Sea, not by agreement on the VHF radio communication between the vessels. It should be noted that the time used for establishing VHF communication would proportionally reduce the extent of early action taken to avoid collision. 2. The local masters serving on locally licensed foreign vessels should work parallel with the foreign master in the navigation when the vessel was in the area of dense traffic and in situations deemed necessary and should not be engaged in routine watch duty. Extract record of ship movement from VTC
A photograph of "KOTA HADIAH" after
collision
"A.M. Vella" after re-surfacing from sea bottom |
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