Photo shows burning ships off Singapore, not 'capsized Philippine oil tanker' in July 2024

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A photo of vessels engulfed in black smoke near Singapore has been shared in social media posts that falsely claimed it showed an oil tanker that sank off the Philippine capital Manila on July 25, 2024. The MT Terra Nova sank in rough seas in the busy waterway, killing one crew member and leaving the country facing the possibility of its worst oil spill ever. But a spokesperson for the Philippine Coast Guard told AFP the ship did not catch fire before it capsized.

"Major oil spill off Manila as tanker sinks in typhoon," read the caption of a photo showing thick black smoke billowing from ships at sea that was posted on Facebook on July 26.

The photo was shared a day after the Philippine-flagged tanker MT Terra Nova carrying 1.4 million litres of industrial fuel oil capsized and sank in rough waters off Manila, killing one crew member and leaving the country racing to avert an environmental catastrophe.

The ship sank as heavy rains fuelled by Typhoon Gaemi and a seasonal monsoon lashed Manila and surrounding regions.

Screenshot of false Facebook post, captured on July 26, 2024

The photo was also shared elsewhere on Facebook here and here, on TikTok here. It was also published in news websites in Kenya, Vietnam and Bangladesh alongside the same claim. 

MT Terra Nova is one of the two tankers that sank in the country following the typhoon.  A coast guard statement said another tanker, the MTKR Jason Bradley sank at the mouth of Manila Bay.

The photo, however, does not show the MT Terra Nova. Philippine Coast Guard spokesman Rear Admiral Armando Balilo confirmed with AFP on July 29 that the tanker did not catch fire before it capsized.

Collision near Singapore

A reverse image search on Google led to the same photo posted on the verified Facebook page of the Republic of Singapore Navy on July 19, 2024 (archived link).

It was one of several photos included in a post about the navy responding to a distress call from two tankers in waters near Singapore.

AFP reported that the two tankers had caught fire in what neighbouring Malaysia’s Maritime Enforcement Agency described as a "collision".

Below is a screenshot comparison of the false post (left) and the Singapore Navy post (right): 

Screenshot comparison of the false post (left) and the Singapore Navy post (right)

The same photo was used in an article by the Reuters news agency on July 21 (archived link).

The photo's caption says it shows, "The RSS Supreme's rigid-hulled inflatable boat in the vicinity of the burning vessels following a fire on two oil tankers about 55 km (34 miles) northeast of the Singaporean island of Pedra Branca".

It was also used in reports by Singaporean newspaper The Strait Times and news channel Channel News Asia (archived links here and here). 

AFP has previously debunked other posts falsely depicting oil tanker incidents here, here and here. 

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