Ship bound for Bangladesh catches fire
BY MARSHA TANPONTIAN: A 40-year-old cargo vessel, which was on its way to Bangladesh to be sold as scrap metal, caught fire 12 nautical miles off Pulau Pisang here yesterday.
The Honduras-registered mv Wah Yu Ni No 1 left Indonesia's Batam Island at 6pm on Thursday with 12 crew members when its engineer spotted the fire at 5am.
Skipper Capt Suprastyoso, 46, said the crew tried to put out the fire but the thick smoke kept them back.
After 15 minutes, the crew abandoned the ship and climbed into a lifeboat.
A passing fishing boat picked them up before the Southern Region Marine Police arrived and sent them to the Kukup jetty at noon.
None of the 11 Indonesian and one Bangladeshi crew members was injured.
Capt Suprastyoso, who was asleep during the fire, said they were supposed to deliver the ship to Bangladesh to be sold as scrap metal.
“We expected to arrive on March 16 and the ship had been checked before setting off.
“We never expected this to happen,” he said.
The ship's second engineer, Frankie Luntungan, 47, who was the first to discover the fire, said it started from the engine’s sixth cylinder head, adding that an exhaust leak could have started the fire.
Marine police operations chief Deputy Supt Marzuki Che Shuib said the Maritime Rescue Control Centre despatched two rescue boats with 20 men after receiving a distress call early in the morning.
At noon, firefighters were still trying to put out the fire, he said.
He said the crew members were handed over to the Fisheries Department for further action.
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