Three seafarers are missing after an explosion on an Aframax oil tanker off Malaysia’s southern coast in the South China Sea on 1 May.
The blast reportedly happened on the 1997-built 96,800 dwt Pablo around 2.40 pm (local time), causing the 28-man crew to abandon the Gabon-flagged vessel.
Vessel-tracking data shows that Pablo had been moving around Zhoushan, China, since February, before sailing for Singapore on 21 April.
The data shows that Pablo is owned by a Marshall Islands-incorporated entity, Pablo Union Shipping, whose contact information could not be traced.
The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA), Malaysia’s coast guard, said that a naval patrol boat was dispatched to the scene to rescue the distressed seafarers.
MMEA director First Admiral Nurul Hizam Zakaria said, “Ongoing operations will include investigations to establish if the trio abandoned the tanker and jumped into sea, or were trapped.”
Eighteen of the seafarers were rescued around 40 nautical miles off Pulau Tinggi, Malaysia, by MS Enola, very large crude carrier owned by Greek owner Rose Shipping, while the other crew members were retrieved by nearby ships. Reportedly, one of Evergreen Marine Corporation’s ships, the 2,926 TEU Ever Bliss, was one of the vessels that picked up the crew.
The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore said that the city-state’s maritime rescue coordination centre will continue to broadcast to passing ships to look out for the three missing seafarers.
Martina Li
Asia Correspondent
