Carolyn Quek, Straits Times 11 Sep 08;
A DIVER who was underwater repairing a ship at the Eastern Petroleum A Anchorage was swept away by a sudden undercurrent on Tuesday evening and is still missing at sea.
Police Coast Guard and Maritime and Port Authority boats, as well as the Naval Diving Unit, have been combing the seas around the anchorage, which is about 5km off the coast around Bedok.
Commercial diver Mohammed Borhan Jamal, 26, who recently became a father, was with two colleagues, aged 34 and 48, during the repair works.
At that time, all three men were about 10m underwater, fixing a metal grating on the hull of a Very Large Crude Carrier, Olivia, which arrived in Singapore from Karimun port in Indonesia last Friday.
The ship, registered in the Isle of Man near Britain, had been docked at the anchorage since Saturday. It was undergoing maintenance work and resupplying.
At about 6.20pm on Tuesday, an undercurrent was believed to have swept the men away. They surfaced, and two of them managed to cling onto a frame at the rear of the oil tanker.
Mr Mohammed Borhan surfaced a few metres away for a brief moment, but the currents swept him away.
The trio work for Underwater Contractors, which specialises in underwater ship maintenance services, such as doing underwater cutting and welding work.
The company was set up almost 30 years ago and has 13 full-time employees.
The firm's representative, Mr Eddy Gan, told The Straits Times that Mr Mohammed Borhan was a very good diver, with about six years of experience.
Mr Gan was with his missing employee's father last night. 'We're still looking for him. We would like to find him first and do not want to say too much yet,' he said.
Three weeks ago, three commercial divers were hurt off Marina South Pier when the propeller blades of an oil tanker started whirling while they were cleaning it. One man was critically hurt with multiple injuries. The other two suffered minor injuries.
