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In the early hours of Sunday morning, the container ship Zephyr Lumos collided with the bulk carrier Galapagos at Muar Port in the Strait of Malacca, causing serious damage to the Galapagos.
Nurul Hizam Zakaria, head of the Johor district of the Malaysian Coast Guard, said that the Malaysian Coast Guard received a call for help from Zephyr Lumos three minutes after Sunday morning and night, reporting a collision. The second call from the Galapagos Islands was made shortly afterwards through the Indonesian National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas). The Coast Guard called on Malaysian naval assets to reach the scene quickly.
Zephyr Lumos struck Galapagos on the starboard side of the midship and made a deep wound on her hull. Photos taken by first responders showed that Galapagos’ starboard list was more moderate after the collision.
In a statement, Admiral Zakaria stated that initial investigations indicated that Galapagos’ steering system may be malfunctioning, causing her to steer in front of Zephyr Lumos. “It is reported that the Malta-registered MV Galapagos is experiencing a steering system failure, forcing it to move to the right [starboard] because the British-registered Zephyr Lumos is overtaking it,” Zakaria said.
In a statement to Ocean Media, the owner of the Galapagos denied that the ship had a steering failure and accused Zephyr Lumos of attempting to perform unsafe overtaking operations.
No seafarers were injured, but the agency did report the leak late on Sunday, and images taken after dawn showed the water surface was shiny. The Malaysian Maritime Safety Administration and the Environment Agency are investigating the case, and both ships have been detained awaiting results.
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