The Aframax crude carrier Bull Sulawesi grounded off Pulau Bangka island in South China sea. The vessel was proceeding from Jakarta to Muntok fully loaded with oil, but due to steering gear failure grounded into a rocky shallow south off Singapore. The ship hardly stuck into the shallow and suffered breaches, as some of the ballast tanks were flooded. The Aframax crude carrier Bull Sulawesi remained afloat and without danger of capsizing, but for safety reasons most of the 30 crew members were evacuated. The local authorities dispatched tugs and rescue boats to follow inspection and underwater survey of the vessel before consider refloating. Such salvage operation will be complicated, as the ship is full of crude oil and towing might increase the breaches and extend the damages.

During grounding there were no injured seamen and no oil spill. The breaches were only in the outer plates of the hull and oil tanks were not affected. However, at the scene of grounding were dispatched boats with oil collection equipment and crude carrier was surrounded by oil booms. The area around the ship is under monitoring for water pollution.

The Aframax crude carrier Bull Sulawesi (IMO: 9180920) has overall length of 245.00 m, moulded beam of 42.00 m and maximum draft of 9.50 m. The deadweight of the ship is 109,579 DWT and the gross tonnage is 61,764 GRT. The oil tanker was built in 1999 by Dalian New Shipbuilding Heavy Industry in China. The manager of the crude carrier Bull Sulawesi is Maersk Tankers, while owner is Indonesian company Nusa Bhakti Jaya Raya.