MPA has recently published Shipping Circular No. 11 of 2018 to provide companies with guidance on the reporting requirements for any marine casualty, marine incident or marine security-related incidents involving Singapore-registered ships. These incidents may include an event, or a sequence of events, which result in any of the following occurrences directly in connection with the operations of a ship:
- The death of, or serious injury to, a person;
- The loss of a person from a ship;
- The loss, presumed loss, or abandonment of a ship;
- Material damage to a ship;
- The stranding or disabling of a ship, or the involvement of a ship in a collision;
- Material damage to marine infrastructure external to a ship, that could seriously endanger the safety of the ship, another ship, or an individual; or
- Severe damage to the environment, or the potential of severe damage to the environment, brought about by the damage of a ship or ships.
The general principle in any incident is that urgent steps on the ground, in accordance with ships' and companies' approved plans, must first be taken by the shipboard personnel and companies to prevent further deterioration of the situation with regard to the safety of lives at sea and protection of the marine environment. Once this is ensured, the owner, manager, and shipmaster of the affected Singapore-registered ships should alert MPA of the incident immediately or at the latest, within two hours.
Alerting MPA of the incident in a timely manner is paramount for Singapore as the Flag Administration of Singapore-registered ships for information sharing with other agencies. More information on the reporting procedure for all incidents involving Singapore-registered ships can be found in
Shipping Circular No. 11 of 2018.