Pertamina urges shipping industry to review safety aspect following fatal fire incident

Petromindo

State-owned oil and gas firm PT Pertamina urged for a thorough review of safety aspect of the national shipyard and docking industry following fatal fire incident on Thursday at its Gamkonora vessel in Batam, which killed five workers.

Pertamina Vice President for Corporate Communication Adiatma Sardjito said in a statement on Friday that while Pertamina, which currently operates 270 vessels, is committed to use domestically manufactured vessels and engaged the services of the local docking industry, the company must ensure safety of the vessels because they carry flammable fuel products.

?Pertamina vessels transport flammable products such as fuel oil, crude, and LPG, so the safety aspect must be truly observed not only by Pertamina as operator but also by the supporting industry including docking,? he said.

On Thursday afternoon, the Gamkonora vessel, docking at Tanjung Ucang in Batam, was hit by fire while six workers were working at the vessel?s pump room, killing five trapped workers. Reports said quoting witnesses that the room had not been really cleaned up when the work started as the floor of the room was still filled with water and oil.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak