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Singapore "deeply concerned" with fire shots at vessel in Gulf

Xinhua, May 18, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) said Monday that it is "deeply concerned" with the shooting incident last week, when a Singapore-flagged commercial vessel was reportedly fired at by Iranian boats on May 14.

"With regard to the reported shooting incident on 14 May 2015 ( Singapore time), involving a Singapore-registered tanker 'Alpine Eternity' that took place in international waters, Singapore is deeply concerned with such actions," MPA said in a statement on Monday.

MPA said it has requested the Iranian maritime authorities to investigate the incident and prevent future recurrences. "The freedom of navigation and free flow of commerce are of critical importance to Singapore and other maritime and trading nations. Such interference with navigational rights is a serious violation of international law."

After the shooting incident, an Iranian official said Saturday that the Singapore-flagged ship, coded Alpine Eternity under Norway's Transpetrol TM AS, hit an Iranian oil platform in the South Pars gas field on March 22, causing 300 million U.S. dollars of damage. And they did so because the Norwegian company had been ignoring Iran's request to compensate for the damage.

MPA said that the ship manager, Transpetrol Ship Management Pte Ltd, had reported the incident to MPA on March 23, and MPA had immediately commenced a marine safety investigation into the incident in accordance with the International Maritime Organization's Casualty Investigation Code, and "the investigation is still in progress." Endi