The move, to come into effect from 1 June, is made to enhance navigational safety of Singapore port waters.

“Several near miss incidents and contacts had occurred in these anchorages, despite the advice to shipmasters to engage the services of pilot, if they are not familiar with the port waters,” MPA said in a statement.

“The findings from these incidents indicated that the common contributory factors were shipmasters' lack of knowledge of local environment conditions, misjudgement of tidal strength and inadequate ship-handling proficiency in port waters,” it said.

Currently only LPG vessels, LNG vessels, chemical tankers, oil rigs and drillships require pilot services when proceeding in and out of the special bunkering anchorages located in the eastern and western sector of Singapore port.

http://www.turkishmaritime.com.tr/

source: seatrade-asia