Two dead after collision at sea

‘Dayang Topaz’ rams into oil rig platform after battering from high waves

MIRI: Two offshore workers died while another one was injured after huge waves battered their ship in the South China Sea off Miri in northern Sarawak.

Hired by Petronas, Dayang Topaz is a maintenance vessel with 187 men on board,” said the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) in a statement yesterday.

“The initial probe showed that its anchor cable to the oil rig platform snapped after being battered by huge waves, and the ship subsequently rammed into the Platform Baram B,” said MMEA director-general, Datuk Mohd Zubil Mat Som.

The area had been seeing waves of up to 4m high during the 6.45am incident at the Petronas oil rig located 7.7 nautical miles off Kuala Baram.

There were 185 Malaysians and two Indonesians aged between 21 and 63 on board at the time of the incident.

Some 125 crew members jumped into the sea after the ship was nearly overwhelmed by waves, but 62 crew members clung on to the vessel, he added.

An MMEA official said the mass evacuation of the ship had the effect of stabilising the ship, which eventually survived the ordeal.

“The sea is still raging with waves of between 3.5m to 4m.

“The injured person was flown by the Petronas helicopter to the Miri Hospital,” Mohd Zubil said.

Those floating in the sea were rescued by numerous vessels which rushed to the scene to join MMEA upon receiving distress signals from the vessel that was built in 2012.

Zubil said the rescued crew members were being taken ashore in stages.

“Damage to the platform and the ship are being probed. There is no oil spill found at the site,” said Zubil, who thanked ships that responded quickly to help in the rescue ops.

Zulkifar Jefery, who was on a passing ship that joined the rescue mission, said he saw frantic efforts to pluck out survivors from the sea.

“The waves were turbulent and the dangerous conditions made it difficult. Sadly, there was loss of life,” he said.

Sarawak is currently facing the onslaught of a stormy season, made worse by Typhoon Molave, which is currently raging in the southern seas off the Philippines.

Sea rescue: (Left) Some of the crew from the ‘Dayang Topaz’ were spotted in the sea after the ship was battered by huge waves off Miri, Sarawak. (Right) Rescuees on board a liferaft were saved by another vessel that responded to distress signals following the mishap.