Naptha-Carrying Tanker On Fire in Straits of Malacca

The collision between the Liberian-registered tanker MT Formosaproduct Brick and the British-registered MV Ostende Max may have caused an oil spill, but in the darkness, the extent of the spill cannot be determined, according to the Malaysia Maritime Enforcement Agency, MMEA.

An MMEA official said there is no immediate danger that the tanker will sink.

Both vessels were heading to Singapore when they collided at 9 pm local time about 20 nautical miles off the Malaysian resort city of Port Dickson. The flames were visible from the city.

Police chief Supt. Mazlan Othman in Port Dickson told reporters that the Malaysian Department of Environment will continue to monitor the heavily traveled waters for spilled oil or naptha, a petrochemical feedstock.

The oil tanker Formosaproduct Brick on fire in the Straits of Malacca (Photo courtesy MMEA)

"As of 6pm, the fire on the MT Formosa Product Brick is still intense," he told reporters at Port Dickson Wednesday. "The tanker is listing and rescue workers have yet to board it."

"Due to the intense heat and heavy traffic in the Malacca Straits, we had difficulty approaching the vessel to put out the fire," said Othman. "We could also hear sounds of explosions from the ship."

He said the tanker is drifting towards Tanjung Sepat, Sepang, a district in the Malaysian state of Selangor.

Nine of the tanker's crew are still missing in the waters of the strait after search and rescue operations had to be called off termporarily due to poor visibility and bad weather.

Sixteen crewmen from the tanker have been rescued after hours in the water and sent to a Port Dickson hospital.

An engineer with an oil refinery here told the Malaysian national news agency Bernama the tanker was carrying 58,000 tonnes of highly flammable naptha.

Oil traders said Wednesday that the tanker, which was chartered by Cargill, was carrying the naphtha from the United Arab Emirates to Daesan, South Korea.

"The bulk carrier slammed into the left side of the Taiwanese tanker that was coming from United Arab Emirates," local marine police chief Rizal Ramli told reporters.

The bulk carrier was towed to Port Dickson for investigation and its three injured crewmembers have been sent to a Port Dickson hospital for treatment.

Police are still investigating the incident, while representatives from the Chinese embassy, insurance and vessel owners have arrived to assess the damage caused by the fire, Bernama said.

Linking the Indian and Pacific Oceans, the Straits of Malacca is the shortest sea route between three of the world's most populous countries - India, China, and Indonesia.

Each year, more than 50,000 vessels pass through the 500 mile long, narrow waterway between peninsular Malaysia and the Indonesian island of Sumatra. The strait is just 1.7 miles wide at its narrowest point, creating the potential for collisions, groundings, and oil spills.

Copyright Environment News Service, ENS, 2009. All rights reserved.