Singapore Wants Investigation into Shooting Incident

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) said on Monday that it has requested the Iranian maritime authorities to investigate an incident last week when Iranian vessels fired shots at a Singapore-flagged tanker in the Gulf.

Alpine Eternity, the vessel that came under fire, had collided with an Iranian oil drilling platform in March, which triggered a call from Iran to its neighbors to seize the ship and hand it over to Iran.

Singapore's MPA said that it requested its Iranian counterpart prevent future recurrences, as the freedom of navigation and free flow of commerce are of critical importance to Singapore and other countries.

“Such interference with navigational rights is a serious violation of international law,” it said in a statement, adding that Singapore was deeply concerned by such actions.

“As to the collision on 22 March 2015 (Singapore time) involving Alpine Eternity and an oil platform located in the Persian Gulf, the ship manager, Transpetrol Ship Management Pte Ltd, had reported the incident to MPA on March 23, 2015. As the flag administration of Alpine Eternity, 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.”