RSS Courageous

RSS Courageous was a Fearless class patrol vessel of the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN). The ship was commissioned in 1996. She was involved in a collision on January 3 2003 with a merchant vessel ANL Indonesia off Horsburgh Lighthouse (Pedra Branca) which resulted in the death of four female RSN sailors.

Background

Synopsis of Incident

The four female sailors were at the rear of the patrol vessel in their sleeping quarters, believed to have been asleep. The ANL Indonesia was sailing to South Korea when her bow fiercely struck the RSS ship's rear. The sailors were killed instantly, and two of their bodies sank into the sea as the merchant ship backed away from the stern of the patrol vessel. Divers later recovered the body of Goh Hui Ling lodged between the bunks after the vessel was put in dry dock at Changi Naval Base. The mutilated bodies of Seah Ai Leng and Heng Sock Ling were washed up on the Indonesian resort of Bintan, south-east of Singapore.^[1]

The body of Chua Bee Lin was never found. Her corpse was originally believed to be pinned under a large metallic object of the patrol boat which broke off its stern and sank on the seabed. A salvage team was sent to lift the wreckage and retrieve her body, but it was not there when it was brought to the surface.

The Singapore government assured Malaysia that their ship was in Singaporean waters and should not have any effect on relations. However, ships of the Royal Malaysian Navy attempted to patrol the island of Pedra Branca a few weeks later were rebuffed by ships of the Singapore Navy, although no shot was fired between the two sides, Singapore govt warned malaysia of dire consequences if malaysia navy persist.

Two officers of the RSS Courageous were placed at fault after investigations discovered they had turned into the wrong shipping lane, which brought their vessel in the way of the ANL Indonesia.^[2]