Hafnia Nile to be moved to safe location for cargo transfer

The collision between the Singapore-registered Hafnia Nile and the Ceres I took place on 19 July in the South China Sea off east coast of Peninsula Malaysia causing a fire on both vessels. The 22 crew on board the Hafnia Nile were rescued and brought back to Singapore the Republic of Singapore Navy vessel RSN Supreme.

“Hafnia is in discussion with MPA on a safe location to transfer Hafnia Nile’s cargo, and towage plans for repairs to be approved by MPA,” the authority said in a statement.

A fifth tug with deepsea towing capacity arrived on site on 23 July joining four other tugs equipped with oil response and firefighting capabilities. The Hafnia Nile is currently about 100 km from Singapore.

The collision took place in the Singapore search and rescue region which is much more extensive than the nation’s waters and also overlaps with a number of nations in the region including Malaysia.

MPA said that as the flag administration for Hafnia Nile it was investigating the collision between the Hafnia Nile and the Ceres I.

Meanwhile the Malaysian authorities have detained the Sao Tome and Principe-registered Ceres I on 21 July a day after went dark turning off its AIS transponder and fleeing the scene of the accident under tow from two tugboats. Maritim Malaysia and the Malaysian Marine Department will carry out further investigation into the incident following the detention of the Ceres I.

Related:Malaysia detains tanker fleeing after collision