Cargo vessels collide off Malaysian coast
Cargo vessels collide off Malaysian coast
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (Agencies): Two cargo ships collided in the Strait of Malacca off the western coast of Malaysia, where thick smoke from forest fires has hindered visibility. Twenty- eight crew members were missing, officials said yesterday.
The Madras, India-registered Vikraman, a bulker, and the Mount 1, a cargo vessel registered in St. Vincent in the Caribbean, collided at about 11 p.m. Friday, said Roslee Mat Yusof, an officer at Malaysia's Maritime Rescue Coordinating Center in Port Klang.
Roslee said investigators had yet to determine whether the thick smog that has shrouded the region was to blame. He said dozens of rescue ships were in the vicinity of the collision, about 9 kilometers (5 miles) south of Cape Rachado, one of the main lighthouses off Port Dickson about 120 kilometers (72 miles) southwest of Kuala Lumpur.
The 28 missing crew members were all from the Vikraman, which sank. There were no casualties on board the Mount 1.
Malaysia's Deputy Transport Minister Ali Rustam said that the Marine Department had not determined the cause of the collision but he did not dismiss the possibility that the smog was a factor.
"In view of the haze situation, all vessels plying the Strait of Malacca should be more cautious," he said.
The collision was some 425 kilometers (255 miles) southeast of the Indonesian city of Medan, where an Indonesian jetliner carrying 234 people crashed Friday in an area of Sumatra clouded with smoke from hundreds of forest fires.
Meanwhile migratory birds are dropping dead from the darkened skies of the western Philippine island of Palawan as the haze worsens from Indonesia's forest fires, environmentalists said yesterday.
Youngsters are complaining of eye pain, fishermen are getting lost at sea and farmers report increased insect attacks on their crops.
The Department of Environmental and Natural Resources warned the haze can lead to acid rain, and health officials urged residents prone to bronchial ailments to stay indoors or wear masks in metropolitan Manila.
The status of the birds dying on Ursula Island, a sanctuary for those coming from the south, was disclosed by Inocencio Magallanes, with the environmental group Haribon.
An environmental team sent to check the sanctuary had to turn back because of zero visibility, said Puerto Princesa Mayor Edward Hagedorn.
The haze has been blamed on forest and ground clearing fires in the provinces of Sumatra and Kalimantan.
Palawan Public Information Officer Ofelia Rondina said fishermen were losing their way because the haze shrouded familiar beacons and landmarks, and farmers were complaining of an increase in insects infecting crops.
Experts said the haze could have forced insects out of their forest habitats.
The DENR warned that aside from increased air pollution and reduced visibility, the haze could result in acid rain, formed when air pollutants mix with water vapor resulting in precipitation composed of sulfuric and nitric acid.
In a memorandum to President Fidel Ramos, Environment Secretary Victor Ramos stressed "the seriousness of this problem is still to be determined."
He proposed the immediate dispatch of experts to Indonesia "not only to provide additional expertise, but also to learn from that country's experience."
Senator Orlando Mercado backed calls for the immediate convening of ministers representing the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to explore how the entire region can fight the fires and the resulting haze.
From the Netherlands, it was reported that leading Dutch tour operators canceled journeys to Sumatra on Friday in reaction to forest fires raging on the island and the Indonesian passenger plane crash.
Unitravel, a Dutch firm specializing in trips to Indonesia, said it was canceling all holidays to Sumatra up until at least Oct. 5.