Tanker Fire Extinguished

Nine crew members still missing The fire aboard the Taiwanese owned, Liberian-registered, MT FORMOSA PRODUCT BRICK, has been put out after the ship burned for two days in the Malacca Strait. The vessel was transporting 58,000 tons of naphtha, a petrochemical feedstock, and was bound for South Korea when it collided with MV OSTENDE MAX, a Greek managed bulk carrier that was only slightly damaged. The bulker was ordered to Port Dickerson, a Malaysian port, to wait for investigators. Nine Chinese crewmembers are still missing, but 16 of the crew were rescued. The collision occurred under clear skies and calm seas. Jiang Han Cheng, the tanker’s captain, told investigators that collision caused the ships fuel compartment to rupture and then he heard a series of explosions. He said within minutes the ship was engulfed with flames and the situation turned chaotic. The tanker was chartered by Cargill, a U.S. commodities trader, and the cargo of naphtha was destined for two South Korean end users. Naphtha is a flammable liquid mixture of hydrocarbons distilled from petroleum, coal tar and natural gas. It is used as fuel, as solvents and in making some chemicals.