SINGAPORE: The body of a Singaporean man who went missing after he fell into the sea while working on a ship was found on the shoreline of Batam, Indonesia.
Several days later, his brother read an Indonesian news article about an unknown body found by authorities. He went to a Batam hospital where he identified his brother by his clothes.
The inquiry into 58-year-old Abd Karim Ali’s death opened on Wednesday (May 3), with his brother and niece attending the hearing.
Three investigators from the Police Coast Guard (PCG), Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and Ministry of Manpower (MOM) testified during the hearing, with their accounts largely similar.
WHAT HAPPENED
Mr Karim worked as a service technician for a Singaporean company. On May 17, 2022, he was part of a three-man crew tasked to perform maintenance work on a vessel off Eastern Petroleum A Anchorage, a sector of the Singapore port.
After completing their work, they were disembarking from the ship to a company boat that was to take them back to Marina South Pier.
However, after Mr Karim went down the gangway on the side of the ship and crossed over into the boat, he lost his balance and fell backwards into the sea.
His crew saw him fall and shouted for help immediately. Another crew member threw a lifebuoy at Mr Karim, who grabbed it. But as the crew were trying to pull him closer, Mr Karim lost his grip and was swept away by the current.
The crew tried to steer the boat towards him to retrieve him, but lost sight of him after he went under. Mr Karim was the only one of the trio who was wearing a life jacket.
PCG and MPA conducted search and rescue operations but could not find Mr Karim.
Five days later, Mr Karim’s younger brother told PCG that an Indonesian news article had reported that an unknown body in a decomposed state was found by Indonesian authorities along a shoreline in Batam.
The news article put out a request for information that could help establish the identity of the unknown body. Mr Karim’s brother believed it was Mr Karim.
The next day, Mr Karim’s brother went to the hospital in Batam and recognised the clothing on the body as his brother’s.
Through fingerprint analysis in Singapore, the body was confirmed to be Mr Karim’s.
The cause of death was unascertained.
LIFE JACKET DID NOT INFLATE
Mr Karim’s life jacket was taken for testing and found to be functional. It would retain air for at least 24 hours if inflated – but this was not an automatically inflating jacket.
A manual activating lever to inflate the jacket, meanwhile, was unused. Investigators said Mr Karim was likely to have failed to locate the device, or failed to activate it.
An MOM investigating officer said there were no records showing Mr Karim had been briefed on how to use the life jacket.
The coroner ordered the investigators to find out if Mr Karim had been given specific training on life jackets, and fixed another hearing at a later date.
On Mr Karim’s two colleagues not wearing life jackets like they were supposed to, the MOM officer said the ministry was considering taking action against parties involved.
Investigations also revealed that Mr Karim had been carrying a backpack with equipment estimated to weigh about 10kg, when he was crossing vessels.
This likely contributed to his fall, along with the fact that he did not maintain “three-point contact”. This refers to having three out of four limbs in contact with whatever vehicle or ladder a person is climbing.
The coroner asked investigators if it was a requirement for there to be three-point contact at all times.
The MOM investigating officer explained that, based on circumstances and industry practices, there will be temporary loss of three-point contact when a person is transferring between boats.