KOTA TINGGI: A Central African-registered vessel, MT Ceres 1, is believed to have gone into hiding after colliding with the MT Hafnia Nile, 25 nautical miles northeast of Tanjung Balau here, yesterday.
Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) Maritime First Admiral Zin Azman Mad Yunus said efforts to locate the Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe-flagged vessel have been hampered as its Automatic Identification System (AIS) was undetected.
"We believe the captain switched off its AIS and fled the scene," he told a press conference at the Tanjung Sedili Maritime Zone today.
According to the vessel's manifest, there are 40 crew members onboard, en route to Brunei.
Zin Azman said that the vessel's International Maritime Organisation (IMO) registration number appeared suspicious, and its departure from the collision site raised further doubts.
"We suspect the vessel is still within Malaysian waters. We have intensified efforts to locate it by deploying our Bombardier amphibious aircraft," he said.
The Singapore-flagged MT Hafnia Nile, carrying 22 crew members, caught fire during the collision with MT Ceres 1.
A search and rescue mission was launched at 6.55am yesterday, with assistance from Singaporean counterparts.
The crew members were rescued by the republic's navy ship RSS Supreme and taken to Singapore for treatment.
Zin Azman confirmed the collision resulted in an oil spill, but the affected area is yet to be determined.
The MT Hafnia Nile was transporting Naptha, a chemical product, from Singapore to Japan.
The Department of Environment (DoE) and the Malaysian Marine Department are monitoring the oil spill's extent.
He added operations to locate the vessel were underway.