This video shows a ship sinking off the coast of Malaysia
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on June 1, 2020 at 11:30
- 3 min read
- By AFP Singapore
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The video was published here on Facebook on May 22, 2020. It has been viewed more than 24,000 times.
The one-minute 57-second video shows people jumping from a ship into the sea as it begins to capsize.
The post’s caption states: “Hear say happened at Tuas today.. Titanic”.
Tuas is an area in the southwestern region of Singapore.
The video was also shared on Facebook here, here and here; on Twitter here; and on YouTube here and here, alongside a similar claim.
The claim is false.
A reverse Google image search using video keyframes extracted with InVID-WeVerify, a digital verification tool, found a shorter version of the same video published here on Facebook on December 31, 2018.
The post's caption states: "Sinking MV Amanda. At 2pm on 25 Dec 2018".
Below is a screenshot comparison of the video in the misleading Facebook post (L) and the video published on Facebook in December 2018 (R):
The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) also told AFP the claim was untrue.
In an email dated May 28, 2020 the MPA said: “A video clip of a capsized ship said to be near Tuas is circulating. This is an old video footage from 2018. The incident did not happen in Singapore waters.”
The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA)’s Lieutenant Commander Maritime Mohd Ardi Mat Nawi corroborated the MPA’s statement in an email to AFP dated May 28, 2020, saying the video showed the sinking of MV Amanda, a cargo ship.
A keyword search on Facebook found this statement about the incident. It was published on the MMEA’s Facebook page on December 26, 2018.
Part of the Malay statement translates to English as: “KOTA TINGGI, December 25 - The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency, Maritime Rescue Sub Center (MRSC JOHOR) has activated a search and rescue (SAR) operation as soon as it received reports of MV Amanda overturning and eventually sinking at the position of about 3.3 nautical miles east of Tanjung Sepang, Kota Tinggi at 2pm.
“The reported number of crew on MV Amanda is as follows: a. Total: 9 people / Safe: 6 people / Still missing: 3 people”.
The MMEA released this follow-up statement on its Facebook page on December 28, 2018, announcing the end of a search and rescue operation for three people who were missing following the accident.
The incident was also reported by the Malaysian TV channel Buletin TV3 on December 25, 2018.
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