Dayang Topaz Incident: One killed, 124 victims rescued

MIRI: One crew member died while 124 others were rescued in an emergency incident at the Dayang Topaz platform ship in Miri waters, Tuesday morning.

The Maritime Rescue Coordination Center (MRCC Putrajaya) received a complaint at about 6:45 this morning from the Sapura Construction ship which received an emergency signal from the Dayang Topaz ship at a position of 7.7 nautical miles from Kuala Baram, Miri.

According to Director General of the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency Datuk Mohd Zubil Mat Som on Twitter, 125 crew have jumped into the sea while another 62 are still on board as of 9.47 this morning.

"124 victims have been rescued, 62 victims have survived on Dayang Topaz.

"We are saddened to be informed that a victim was found dead," Mohd Zubil said via Twitter.

All crews that were found were rescued by aid assets and ships that had arrived at the scene.

Preliminary investigation found that the incident occurred due to one of the anchor cables being severed due to bad weather causing the ship to drift and hit the oil rig platform.

Clearly, the MRCC is now actively implementing further coordination.

Assistance assets were mobilised to the location comprising three Malaysian Maritime ships and boats along with seven ships and boats belonging to Petronas and Shell companies.