The'Sri Kandi 99' which had run aground on rocks at the southern tip of Pulau Tekong in the night of July 9 has meanwhile capsized
The'Sri Kandi 99' which had run aground on rocks at the southern tip of Pulau Tekong in the night of July 9 has meanwhile capsized. The ferry was stranded during low tide after it collided with rocks near the island. The wreck was resting semi-submerged bottom up on the shore. All 45 passengers and crew ohad been rescued by the Police Coast Guard. Three Police Coast Guard vessels were mobiilizied for the rescue operation which was a tricky as the ferry was listing to starboard and at the risk of capsizing, while visibility was low. The closeness to shore meant that the police boats ran a risk of being grounded too. The crew of the 'PT 78', using night-vision technology and searchlights, found that five people were stuck in the ferry. They carefully aligned the vessel to the ferry so that the passengers who did not know how to swim, could simply walk over to the boat. The other two rescue vessels were attending to 40 of the ferry's passengers and crew who had made it to shore. The ferry had been carrying one Vietnamese and 33 Malaysian passengers and 11 Indonesian crew members. Two men had light injuries - one had a neck abrasion and another a bruise on his right thigh. The passengers were subsequently transferred to another ferry, the 'Camara Samudra', and arrived safely at Tanjong Pengelih, Johor, on July 10 at 5.15 a.m. The crew members were assisting with investigations. Report with photos: https://www.straitstimes....
