94001 Grounding in Singapore Strait

Passage to Nowhere
-Takong Island. At Night. Good visibility.
- Report No. 94001.

 Own vessel was proceeding west towards Raffles Light on the southern islands off Singapore. I heard the VTIS calling an east bound ship approaching the Takong Light via Phillip Channel. The ship was heading towards shallow water close to Takong Island and did not respond to the three calls on the VHF. I tracked the ship on radar and could see the vessel some three miles away at our closest approach before we rounded Raffles and headed north west. The other ship was seen to stop and presumably went aground. This was verified some three days later when we came back to Singapore as she was still there with a clutch of salvage tugs standing by.

On the night of the grounding the visibility was good, the Takong beacon marking the NW edge of the deep water route had been damaged and presumably was unlit as we noticed the racon was not working. The ship must have made a large alteration of course not more than half an hour earlier in order to enter the Phillip Channel, so I presume she mistook the island light for the unlit beacon, even though both have different characteristics. She should have left the Fl (2) 5 s buoy (see attached sketch) to port as she was not a deep draught vessel but a five hatch combination carrier of approximately 12,000 GRT.

Even if her radar had been inoperative, the bridge watch must have been very much at fault to mistake the lights and to have been in the deep water route. As you close the island in the dark, the lights of Singapore in the background are blocked by the island's shape - improper lookout?

This is the third ship that I have seen aground in the same position in the past two years of regular trading in this part of the world, I have also seen many bad examples of poor seamanship. The local authorities do nothing about the numerous ships who ignore the traffic separation scheme and it is only a matter of time before there is a major accident off Singapore with possibly far worse consequences.