SINGAPORE: One person is missing after a boat carrying 108 people was found by the authorities in Singapore waters near Pedra Branca early Thursday morning (Apr 19).
The Maritime and Port Authority (MPA) received a report at about 2.50am that five people had gone overboard from a boat that was 0.7 nautical miles northeast of Pedra Branca, MPA said in a press release on Thursday.
This occurred within Singapore’s territorial waters, according to MPA.
“Personnel and assets from the Singapore Police Coast Guard and the Republic of Singapore Navy were immediately deployed for search and rescue operations,” said the authority.
Four of the people reported to have gone overboard were rescued but one person was still unaccounted for.
“The four who were rescued are Indonesians,” said MPA.
AdvertisementAdvertisementIt added that according to those rescued, there were 108 men, women and children on board the boat.
The remaining 103 people were “safe on board the boat”, said the authority, and added that they were transferred to an Indonesian Marine Police vessel and taken back to Batam along with the four rescued.
MPA has issued navigational broadcasts for ships to look for the missing person. Singapore is coordinating search-and-rescue operations with Indonesian authorities.
In a Facebook post, Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen said that the boat had been spotted by Singapore’s Maritime Security Task Force while operating off Changi.
The motorised boat had lost power and was drifting around the waters off Pedra Branca.
A coast guard vessel was later sent to investigate the craft, at which point some people “were seen to have jumped overboard from the stranded boat and were swimming away", he added.
It is unclear where the boat had originated from or where it was headed.
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