Two tankers collide in Malacca Strait, supertanker being pursued

Two tankers collide in Malacca Strait, supertanker being pursued

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Malaysian maritime officials were pursuing a supertanker that fled after allegedly ramming yesterday into another vessel carrying oil in the Strait of Malacca off southern Malaysia.

"We believe it is a hit and run accident and we are seeking help from neighboring countries to locate the supertanker, identified as M.V. Ming Wisdom," said maritime rescue official Jaafar Hassan.

Jaafar said there were no reports of any casualties or oil spills around the area of the accident, six nautical miles off the island of Pulau Kukup, west of Johore state.

But the oil tanker M.V. Damansara, owned by Malaysia's Pernas Shipping National Line, had to be taken to Johore for repairs and to facilitate investigations, he said.

Jaafar, spokesman for the Malaysian Maritime Rescue Coordination Center based in Port Klang, said the M.V. Damansara was carrying jet fuel for the oil company Shell.

It had not been determined whether the supertanker was loaded. Maritime sources said both vessels were believed to be en route to Singapore from the northern Malaysian state of Penang. "It is not a head-on collision as both the vessels were traveling in the same direction," Jaafar said.

Rescue center officials said the Malaysian authorities had tipped off Singapore and other neighboring countries on the accident and were seeking help in tracking down the supertanker.

The Malacca Strait is a crowded, 1,000-kilometer waterway between Sumatra island in Indonesia and Malaysia leading to Singapore, one of the world's busiest ports.

The waterway, used by as many as 2,000 ships daily, has been the scene of a number of major accidents which caused extensive oil pollution.