On 22 August 1992, the
Royal Pacific departed from
Singapore for a three-day, two night cruise off the coast of
Malaysia and
Thailand. In the evening of 23 August 1992, she was rammed by the Taiwanese fishing vessel
Terfu 51 in the
Straits of Malacca after the Tefru misjudged the distance needed to cross the path of the Pacific. The collision caused a six-foot hole beneath the water line of the hull. The ship remained above water for about two hours after the collision before sinking around 3 a.m. At the time of sinking, she was carrying 516 people, consisting of 337 passengers and 179 crew. A majority of passengers were from
Singapore, with smaller numbers from
Britain,
Australia,
India,
United States,
Indonesia,
Germany,
Taiwan, and
Canada. 193 passengers were rescued by the Japanese ship
Marissa, while most others were picked up by the Greek ship
Chapai. The collision resulted in 30 deaths, with most attributed to the crew's choice to abandon ship first. At the time of the collision the
Royal Pacific was piloted by captain Anastasios Papagiannis. ==References==