The submerged dredger (C) is seen in the west part of Singapore Strait on Sept. 14, 2017. The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) announced Wednesday evening that divers have recovered two bodies of missing crew members from a dredger which had collided earlier in the day with a tanker in Singapore's territorial waters. (Xinhua/Then Chih Wey)
SINGAPORE, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) -- The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) announced Wednesday evening that divers have recovered two bodies of missing crew members from a dredger which had collided earlier in the day with a tanker in Singapore's territorial waters.
The MPA did not mention the nationalities of the recovered bodies in its press release. But an official with the Chinese Embassy in Singapore confirmed that one of them was Chinese and the other Malaysian.
The dredger, identified as the JBB DE RONG 19, had 11 Chinese crew members and one Malaysian onboard when the collision occurred at about 12:40 a.m. (1640 GMT Tuesday). The accident capsized the ship, leaving five crew members, including four Chinese, missing.
The collision also damaged the hull of the Indonesian-registered tanker, but all its 26 crew members were unharmed.
The MPA said it will continue to lead the search and rescue operations, which so far involve about 200 people, supported by multiple vessels and helicopters.
The MPA added that it had notified the Indonesian Rescue Coordination Center about the incident and they have deployed five vessels to assist with search and rescue in Indonesian territorial waters.
Andrew Tan, chief executive of MPA, said the authority expressed its deepest condolences to the families of the two deceased and wish those injured a speedy recovery.
He said Singapore will continue with its search and rescue efforts to find the remaining three missing crew members.