Probe On US Destroyer's Collision With Merchant Vessel To Be Ready In One Month - Malaysia's Transport Minister

PORT KLANG (Selangor, Malaysia), Aug 29 (Bernama) – The Malaysian government will complete its investigation on last Monday’s collision involving the United States of America’s (US) guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain and a merchant vessel in waters east of Johor in a month. Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai said the ministry had set up a special committee to investigate the incident, including to identify the cause of the collision which claimed the lives of 10 sailors on board the destroyer. "At the moment, we cannot confirm that it happened due to human negligence or faulty system as investigation is in progress. Investigation has to be conducted as it happened in the country’s territorial waters,” he told reporters after opening the Asean Regional Training Centre for Vessel Traffic Services (VTS) at the Maritime Transport Institute here Tuesday. Also present were Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism of Japan, Keiichi Ishii, and Marine Department Director-General Baharin Abdul Hamid. However, Liow said the investigation by the Malaysian government would only focus on the technical aspects and standard operating procedures (SOP) of the merchant vessel Alnic MC as the missile-destroyer came under the jurisdiction of the armed forces. "Although all merchant vessels are equipped with Automatic Identification System (AIS), whose function is to channel information on the location of the vessel, but in the Alnic MC case, we have yet to ascertain if the system was functioning,” he said. On the Asean Regional Training Centre for VTS, Liow said the centre was fully financed by the Japan-ASEAN Integration Fund to train VTS personnel . The first batch of 18 trainees, from Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, the Philippines and Thailand, would complete their three month training this Oct 20. “A total of US$2.7 million had been allocated through the Japan-ASEAN Integration Fund for teh training,” said Liow. -- BERNAMA