Steering System Failure Leads to a Devastating Collision in Malacca Straits

A bulk carrier and a containership collided early Sunday in the Malacca Straits, resulting in an oil spill. The failure of the steering system is suspected to be the cause of the two ships colliding.

Johor Maritime Director, Nurul Hizam Zakaria said, the MV Galapagos, a bulk carrier registered in Malta reportedly had a steering system failure and moved to the right, blocking the passage of the containership MV Zephyr Lumos which was overtaking it.

“The United Kingdom registered MV Zephyr Lumos failed to avoid the MV Galapagos and there was a collision on the right side of the ship,” he said in a statement.

As per the Malaysian Coast guard, the containership MV Zephyr Lumos and bulk carrier MV Galapagos collided at 14.1 nautical miles southwest of Kuala Sungai just after midnight at about 0003 LT.

The bulker, MV Galapagos, measures 225-meters-long and is 76,000 DWT. It was built in 2010. As per reports, she was sailing from Gladstone, Australia to Visakhapatnam, India.

Zephyr Lumos is a brand new 2021-built containership registered in the United Kingdom. It measures 366-meters-long and 15,000 TEU capacity. AIS ship tracking shows it was underway from Singapore to the Suez Canal.

Johor Maritime Director said the initial investigation into the damage to the body of MV Galapagos found that there were oil spill patches.

No crew was reported injured. Detailed investigation is ongoing.

Akibat jarak yang terlalu hampir menyebabkan MV Zephyr Lumos tidak sempat mengelak dan terlanggar MT Galapagos. Kru kedua-dua kapal tidak alami kecederaan. Berlaku tumpahan minyak. Kes disiasat Jabatan Laut Malaysia dan Jabatan Alam Sekitar. pic.twitter.com/88HyJ9xDF4

— Malaysia Coast Guard (@MYCoastGuard) July 11, 2021