The bodies of three servicewomen have been recovered and searchers but there has been no sign of Chua Bee Lin since the high-seas crash late Friday.

Heavy rain was hampering the search operation, and Defence Minister Tony Tan said that "as time goes by, the prospects for her recovery and her survival diminish and we should be prepared for the worst.

All four women, specialists in handling naval weapons and communications systems, were in the sleeping quarters of the RSS Courageous when it was involved in a collision with the Dutch-registered ANL Indonesia.

"The Maritime Port Authority is now in the process of coming out with a report on the collision and the report should be out in a few weeks time," Tan told reporters on the RSS Endurance stationed at the crash site.

"Until the results of the investigation are known, I do not think that we should speculate on what is the the cause of the accident," he said.

Lieutenant Colonel Gerald Heng, who is heading the search for Chua, said the operation is being hampered by the weather and waves up to 1.5 metres (4ft 8in).

"Because of the rain the visibility is not great. It's been like this for the last few days (and) conditions out here are not helping us," he said.

Navy divers attempting to reach a section of the ship which sheared off in the crash and sank in waters 57m deep, reached 50m before they were forced to abandon their attempt Monday when conditions deteriorated.

Late Sunday, the body of 1st Sergeant Seah Ai Leng, 25, a seven-year naval veteran was recovered off the the neighbouring Indonesian island of Bintan, about 16 kilometres (10 miles) from the scene of the crash.

The body of 22-year-old Goh Hui Ling was earlier found in the shattered bunkroom of the RSS Courageous, and the body of Heng Sock Ling, 24, was washed up on a Bintan beach early Sunday.

Another eight of the 44 navy crew suffered minor injuries, while there were no reported injuries among the 11 Indonesian and 12 Dutch crew members on the merchant ship.

The severely damaged 455-tonne RSS Courageous was towed to the Changi Naval Base here on Saturday and raised from the water for easier access to the sleeping quarters.

The Courageous, one of six anti-submarine craft in Singapore's naval fleet, collided with the merchant vessel near the islet of Pedra Branca, where Singapore maintains a lighthouse.

The islet is also claimed by Malaysia.

The 55,000-tonne merchant ship, on its way from Malaysia to South Korea, suffered minor damage to its bow.

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