IPOH: A total of 25 crew members were rescued after their boat caught fire about 3.5 nautical miles from the Alep Platform, in the waters off Pantai Remis, last night.
Malaysian Fire and Rescue Department’s (JBPM) Perak Acting Assistant Director (Operations) Shazlean Mohd Hanafiah said the department received an emergency call at 11.06 pm and a team from the Pantai Remis Fire and Rescue Station was dispatched to the scene.
“The incident involved a Class C trawler, which was about 80 per cent destroyed by the blaze at about 3.5 nautical miles from a nearby platform.
“All 25 crew members managed to escape by jumping into the sea before being rescued by a fishing boat and then brought to the Alep Platform,” he said in a statement today.
He added that following discussions with the vessel’s owner, the boat, which was equipped with a diesel tank capacity of 10,000 litres, was due to be scrapped and was being towed further out to sea with assistance from another fishing boat in the area.
“At the request of the owner, the firefighting operation was carried out as the wreckage of the boat was still required. The operations commander instructed personnel to extinguish the fire using two 200-foot hose lines, two open water jets, and a portable pump until the fire was completely extinguished,” he said. – BERNAMA
