SINGAPORE – When Inspector Muhammad Rasidi Suriade of the Police Coast Guard (PCG) got a call on Feb 28 about a Singapore-registered chemical tanker being boarded illegally by unknown suspects, he rushed to the scene.

He and his colleagues were on a PCG boat patrolling Singapore waters just five minutes away. The PCG boarded the tanker after it entered Singapore territorial waters.

Insp Rasidi and five officers boarded the vessel at around 8.20am and saw a crew member lying on the ship’s main deck, bleeding from his right eye.

Seeing that his injuries were serious, Insp Rasidi told two of his officers to stay with the injured man, while the remaining four officers turned their attention to finding the suspects.

Insp Rasidi was recounting the “unauthorised boarding” incident that happened in the Singapore Strait, outside Singapore territorial waters.

The 29-year-old injured Indian national is in a stable condition and has been discharged from hospital.

Speaking to The Straits Times at the PCG headquarters at Brani Base on March 12, Insp Rasidi said: “Someone was injured, and his life could have been on the line. We had to clear the main deck as fast as possible, so he could be evacuated quickly and receive medical help.”

The tanker’s crew said six to seven suspects had boarded the ship.

But before locating them, Insp Rasidi said he and his team had to gather every crew member and ensure they were accounted for.

The inspector added: “We needed to rule out the possibility a perpetrator was posing as a crew member, or that someone else was injured on another part of the ship.”

The PCG officers verified the passports of more than 20 people, matching their faces to their identity photos.

As this happened, a PCG patrol boat stood guard beside the chemical tanker, which is the size of around five Olympic swimming pools and more than 50 times the size of the PCG patrol boat.

To monitor the situation better, Sergeant Muhammad Zukhairie Khairudin and his colleague deployed the Seaborne Electro Optics System (SEOS), ...