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Container Ship Collision Sparks Blaze in Malaysia

Published Oct 28, 2014 4:25 PM by The Maritime Executive

Two docked container ships in Westport, Port Klang caught fire on Tuesday night at roughly 7:30 p.m. locally. The blaze was allegedly started after the two ships collided. No casualties were reported. The contact resulted in a fire in a container stack on the forward sections of both vessels.

The ships involved are UASC’s 13,000-teu containership Al Riffa and Bernhard Schulte Ship Management-managed San Felipe. Al Riffa had to be towed away to prevent fire damage to the wharf where the incident occurred, while San Felipe fire has been controlled. It moved to a safe anchorage to assess the damage.

As of 10 p.m. locally, the operation to fully put out the fire was still ongoing and further information on the status of the ships is currently not available. Tugs are standing by for further assistance, if necessary.

Investigations into the incident have started already.