PORT KLANG: SMOKE was still billowing from the containers on board the MV San Felipe, which caught fire after brushing against another ship at Westport, here, on Tuesday evening.
Selangor Fire and Rescue Department operations assistant director Mohd Sani Harul said firemen were using water to cool down the containers to prevent heat transfer to other containers on the ship.
“There are no more red flames but the cargo in the containers is still burning, thus creating smoke. The containers are sealed so we are just dousing the exterior with water to cool them down.”
He said fire in the containers would be snuffed out when the objects inside were burnt out.
He assured the public that there was no immediate danger as the ship had been towed out to sea for firefighting efforts.
The total amount of losses had yet to be estimated as the fire was not completely put out and firemen could not go near to gauge the damage.
MV San Felipe had brushed against another container ship,
MV Al Riffa, which was berthed at an adjacent wharf, causing fires to break out on both ships at 7.30pm on Tuesday evening.
Within an hour, the fire on MV
Al Riffa was extinguished while MV San Felipe was towed out about 1km from the wharf.
Firefighting efforts continued through the night using nine tugboats.
Port Klang Authority (PKA) chairman Tan Sri Kong Cho Ha was at Westport yesterday for a meeting with PKA general manager Datuk Captain David Padman and Westport Malaysia chief operating officer Ian James on the incident.
Kong said Westport had provided a fire engine and seven tugboats to help put out the flames.
An additional two tugboats and eight workboats were sent by Westport, Northport, PKA, Marine Department, marine police and the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA).
“On Tuesday night, the movement of vessels at Pintu Gedung (south channel) was restricted and priority was given on a case to case basis while Pulau Angsa (north channel) remained open to all traffic.
“All navigational restrictions through Pintu Gedung have been lifted and vessel movements in and out of Port Klang have resumed as per normal.
“Although berthing of vessels will be slightly impacted, Westport anticipates a return to normal operations within one or two days.”
Kong said PKA, Marine Department and Westports had initiated an investigation into the incident and precautions were being taken to ensure there was no impact to the environment. No fatalities or injuries had been reported.