Oil tanker catches fire off Malaysia, 3 sailors missing
Wednesday, May 3, 2023 | 13:08:56
2,628 views
The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency is searching for three crew members missing a day after a Gulf-registered oil tanker caught fire off the country's southern coast.
The MT Pablo caught fire while en route from China to Singapore with 28 sailors on board.
The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) said it had initiated a search and rescue operation after receiving a report of a fire on the Pablo on May 1, about 37.5 nautical miles northeast of Tanjung Sedili in Johor state. At the time of the incident, the Pablo with 28 crew members was not carrying any cargo as it was traveling from China to Singapore to load crude oil.
The fire on the ship was likely extinguished by the same afternoon and 25 sailors were rescued, including 23 who were assisted by two ships near the scene. Of the rescued sailors, four were seriously injured.
A naval patrol vessel was dispatched to the scene to rescue those on board. “Fortunately, the 23 crew members were rescued by two ships in the vicinity,” said MMEA director Admiral Nurul Hizam Zakaria.
MT Pablo on fire off Singapore.
Three sailors are currently missing, including two Indians and one Ukrainian. The MMEA does not rule out the possibility that the three sailors are still trapped on board, as smoke makes it unsafe to conduct inspections.
“Although we have rescued two crew members, three are still missing. Ongoing operations will include investigations to determine whether the three abandoned the tanker and jumped into the sea or were trapped inside,” added Nurul Hizam Zakaria.
The agency is searching for the missing sailors within 100 km of the above area.
Maritime authorities in neighboring Singapore said they were issuing alerts to ships in the vicinity to look for the three missing crew members. The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore identified the tanker as the MT Pablo.
Video shows the tanker on fire, with large plumes of black smoke billowing into the air. Other ships have been spotted nearby.
Initial information said that the MT Pablo ship is owned by Pablo Union Shipping, a company based in the Marshall Islands, and was built in 1997.
According to vtv.vn
Source link
![[Maritime News] Container shipping faces overcapacity that will last until 2028](https://vphoto.vietnam.vn/thumb/402x226/vietnam/resource/IMAGE/2025/7/30/6d35cbc6b0f643fd97f8aa2e9bc87aea)
Comment (0)