Three Missing After Fire Aboard Indonesian Product Tanker
A product tanker caught fire off the coast of Ampenan, Lombok on Sunday, prompting the evacuation of the crew.
The 5,000 dwt tanker Kristin reported a fire at about 1500 hours on Sunday afternoon. The vessel is under charter to Pertamina to deliver a cargo of about six million liters of Pertalite, a company brand name for a premium gasoline grade, a Pertamina spokesman told local media. The fuel was intended for customers in Bali and West Nusa Tenggara.
"The fire point appears to have come from the forecastle . . . and the cause of the fire is still being investigated further," a Pertamina executive said in a statement Sunday.
Operations to extinguish the fire were under way Sunday, and responders were working to find all crewmembers of the vesel. 14 have been located but three went, according to spokesman Taufik Kurniawan. The three lost crewmembers reportedly were on the forecastle conducting anchoring operations and jumped over the side when the fire broke out.
Minggu (26/3) sebuah kapal tanker mengalami kebakaran pada bagian depan kapal yang terlihat warga di pesisir pantai Ampenan sekitar pukul 15.00 WITA. Sebelum mengeluarkan asap tebal, warga sempat mendengar suara ledakan yang diduga berasal dari kapal tersebut.
— Inside Lombok (@insidelombok_) March 26, 2023
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The fire was extinguished overnight Sunday, but the missing seafarers have not been found.
Kristin's gas cargoes were intended for Lombok and Bali, which both rely on marine transportation for fuel. Local fuel stocks are adequate to keep motorists on the islands supplied now, Kurniawan stressed.
Kristin is a 2003-built product tanker flagged and owned in Indonesia. She has no port state control inspection record, consistent with a vessel operating exclusively in domestic trades.