One crew member dies in oil tanker fire

One crew member died while two others were injured after the Soechi Lesmana oil tanker, which was delivering 3,000 tons of fuel owned by PT Pertamina Fuel Retail Marketing Region VII, caught fire in Mamuju waters in West Sulawesi early on Monday.

The Jakarta Post reported that the tanker and its 20 crew members was en route from Pare-Pare to Donggala in Central Sulawesi.

The post commander of the Indonesian naval installation in Mamuju, 1st Lt. Jajat Sudrajat said that the incident was triggered by a fire in the machine room, which led to an explosion at 3:30 a.m. local time (2:30 a.m. in Jakarta).

?When the oil tanker was sailing in Mamuju waters about 20 miles out from Belang-Belang port in Mamuju, the tanker?s engine exploded. One died, while two others were severely injured,? Commander of the Indonesian naval installation in Mamuju, 1st Lt. Jajat Sudrajat said as reported by the Post.

All of the ship?s crew members have been evacuated to Mamuju.

Rosina Nurdin, Asisten Manager of Public Relations Division at Pertamina Fuel Retail Regional VII Makassar, said that she was unaware of the incident, while another company representative, Umar Isnu, confirmed the incident and the fact that the tanker was chartered by Pertamina?s Pare-Pare office, but declined to elaborate on the details, such as the type of the fuel carried on board.(*)