SINGAPORE (Reuters) – A crew member on a Singapore-registered chemical tanker was injured due to an “unauthorised boarding” of the vessel on Friday and is being medically evacuated, Singapore’s port authority said.
The incident on the vessel, the Basset, occurred on Friday at 6:50 a.m. (2250 GMT on Thursday) in the Singapore Strait, according to the Singapore police.
A statement from the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore said it was issuing safety broadcasts for vessels to maintain a vigilant watch but did not give details of the nature of the unauthorised boarding.
In a statement, the police said: “To ensure the safety of the crew, the Police Coast Guard boarded the tanker at about 8:20 a.m. after it entered Singapore Territorial Waters and performed a sweep to ensure that no perpetrators remained onboard.”
It said the injured crew member, a 29-year-old Indian national, was taken to hospital with the assistance of the Singapore Civil Defence Force. He was conscious and was receiving medical treatment.
Armed robbery against ships is not uncommon. There were 61 cases in the Singapore Strait last year and 58 in 2023, according to a Singapore-based regional maritime security centre.
The vessel was anchored in Singapore waters, the port authority said. The port authority said all of the Basset’s crew were accounted for and that the safety of navigation along the Singapore Strait was not affected.
(Reporting by Xinghui Kok, additional reporting by Bing Hong Lok; Editing by Edwina Gibbs and Ros Russell)
