Danish cargo ship has sunk in the Singapore Strait after a collision

Tthe 146-meter-long freighter Thorco Cloud, which the Danish Thorco Shipping co-owns, sank Wednesday afternoon on the 16th of December off Singapores coast after the ship collided with the tanker Stolt Commitment, which is 15 years old and registered in the Cayman Islands.

The 12 crew members aboard the Thorco Cloud are from the Philippines and from Eastern Europe, no Danish crew members were on board. Thorco Cloud sailed from the Port of Batu Ampar in Indonesia and was on its way to Durban, South Africa when it collided with Stolt Commitment.

“We are extremely sorry to confirm that our ship Thorco Cloud, a multipurpose carrier, sank yesterday after having collided with the tank vessel Stolt Commitment from Stolt Tankers. There were 12 crew members on board and six of them were rescued shortly after the collision with help from the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, the Police Coast Guard and Stolt Commitment. Six crew members are still missing and the search and rescue is ongoing. The involved families have been notified. At the moment our primary focus is to find our crew and our thoughts go out to the families still in a state of uncertainty,” Thorco Shipping, who’s headquarter is in Copenhagen, writes in a release on their website.

According to Marine Traffic the two ships crossed paths, where Thorco Cloud came against Stolt Commitments starboard side. Stolt slowed and altered course to starboard just before the collision, which occurred at 12:13.  Although there is no impact to surface navigation, all ships have been advised to keep clear of the sunken wreck. The bow section of the ship is still visible.

The search for the six missing crew members are still ongoing.

“MPA has deployed two patrol craft for search and rescue operations. Singapore’s Police Coast Guard (PCG) supported MPA by deploying five boats, and rescued five of the 12 freighter crew members. A sixth was rescued by the chemical tanker. The Singapore Civil Defense Force (SCDF) dispatched two vessels to assist in the search and rescue efforts. SCDF also conveyed the six rescued crew members to Singapore General Hospital. Search and rescue operations for the remaining freighter crew members are on-going. MPA has issued navigational broadcasts to vessels in the vicinity to keep clear of the area and to report any sightings of the missing crew members,” it is written in an official statement, from the Department of the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA).