Crew Rescued After Container Feeder Sinks off Singapore

Lost containers — Responders were still monitoring lost containers from the ship over the weekend (Courtesy Baklama)

On Friday night, a small container ship went down in the middle of the Strait of Singapore, just hours after leaving the pier.

At about 2200 hours local time on June 5, the small container feeder Golden Star 1 - a local vessel involved in coastal trading - began taking on water, and she quickly went down at a position about three nautical miles north of Batam, in the middle of the strait. The ship had nine crewmembers and about 100 containers on board.

Golden Star 1 had departed the pier at PSA Tanjong Pagar Terminal at about 2000 hours and headed southeast, towards the traffic lanes. At 2230 her course became erratic, and she drifted back westward before disappearing off AIS at about 2245 (per AIS data provided by Pole Star Global).

Indonesia's coast guard retrieved the crew from the water off the coast of Batam and brought them safely to shore. All were rescued, and no injuries were reported.

The response to the sinking continues, including monitoring efforts to manage the hazard of floating containers from the Golden Star 1's cargo. Baklama (the Indonesian Coast Guard) is leading the operation and has multiple vessel assets on scene.

Golden Star 1 was a 1995-built container feeder flagged in Tanzania, a "very high risk" flag on the Paris MoU black list. Her last port state control inspection was in 2022, and inspectors noted corrosion issues on her decks.