Five dead in explosion on Indonesian tanker

Five crew are reported to have burnt to death in the vessel’s engine room and at least three others were seriously injured and intensive care.

According to local reports the Elisabet Satu’s first mate a fire erupted on the tanker at 01:18 hrs on 7 August followed by an explosion on the port side of the vessel, which was followed by a large explosion and fire in the engine room.

The vessel’s Captain, Muhamad Haris Al Razak, was quoted by Bali Discovery as saying, “There were explosions, and then the ship lost all power (blackout). We immediately called for assistance from the operations post at Tanjung Mangis.”

The 3,639 dwt, 2016-built, Elisabet Satu loaded with fuel had departed port an hour prior to the accident and was bound for Badas Port, Sumbawa. The Indonesian-flagged tanker is owned by Jakarta-based Arta Samudera Line.

The were a total of 21 crew onboard the vessel at the time the fire broke out. Five seafarers in the engine room died, and another three crew members were reported to have suffered serious burns and were warded in intensive care.

A further 12 crew were reported to have suffered injuries with three warded in hospital and nine released after out patient treatment.

On Friday it was reported that the fire on the vessel had been extinguished and cooling process had been completed with the vessel anchored around 5.5 km from the Manggis BBM Termina

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"The company will take full responsibility for the impacts caused by this incident. We also express our deepest condolences to the victims and their families affected by the incident on the MT Elisabet Satu ship," Budi Kurniawan, Operations Manager for Arte Samudera Line, quoted from a statement published by Nusa Bali.