At about 2.30am LT on 17 April 2018, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) received a report from Singapore-registered LPG tanker, CRYSTAL SUNRISE that she had collided with a westbound Greece-registered tanker, ASTRO SATURN. CRYSTAL SUNRISE was picking up her pilot near the designated western pilot boarding ground when the collision took place about one nautical mile south of Tuas Extension, in Singapore territorial waters.
Following the collision, CRYSTAL SUNRISE sustained damage to her ballast tank. The master reported that the butane that vessel was carrying had started to leak from one of the cargo tanks. The ship’s crew took the necessary measures and stopped the leak. ASTRO SATURN sustained damages to her port anchor and bow. Both CRYSTAL SUNRISE and ASTRO SATURN have been stabilised.
An estimated 1,796MT of butane gas had leaked. As liquefied butane has a high evaporation rate, MPA has assessed that any leaked butane would have been carried southward away from mainland Singapore, where most of it would have rapidly dissipated to below flammable levels within an hour and pose no risk to shipping.
The two tankers reported no injuries to their crew. As a precautionary measure, eight PSA Marine staff who were in the vicinity of the collision received medical check-ups at the National University Hospital. All of the crew have since been discharged.
MPA is investigating the incident.
VesselFinder Video representation of the collision between LPG tanker CRYSTAL SUNRISE and tanker ASTRO SATURN:
Source: MPA Singapore