Two dead after maintenance vessel strikes oil platform off Sarawak

Two people are confirmed dead after an offshore maintenance vessel struck an oil platform in Malaysia’s Baram field on Tuesday, October 27.

The incident began when the anchor cables of the maintenance vessel Dayang Topaz snapped due to bad weather while it was some 14 nautical miles off northeastern Sarawak at around 06:20 local time on Tuesday. This then caused the vessel to drift until it struck the nearby Petronas-operated Baram B platform.

Immediately following the allision, some of Dayang Topaz‘s 187-strong crew jumped into the water after their vessel became overwhelmed by large waves.

Three vessels of the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA), 13 other Good Samaritan vessels, and four surveillance aircraft despatched by Petronas then arrived at the scene to render assistance to the distressed crew, which consisted of 185 Malaysian and two Indonesian nationals.

One of the crew who had jumped into the water was later found dead by the responding search and rescue (SAR) teams.

On Wednesday, October 28, an MMEA official confirmed that a second crewmember had been added to the death toll. However, it remains unclear whether this individual had also jumped into the water or had remained on board Dayang Topaz along with 61 others following the allision.

No serious injuries have been reported among the remainder of the crew, who have all since been evacuated to Miri in Sarawak.

Petronas said in a statement that an investigation into the incident is ongoing and that all relevant authorities have been notified.