Oil Tanker Suffers Fire and Sinks Off Malaysia

Published Sep 3, 2013 12:01 PM by The Maritime Executive

Photo: Straits of Johor

A tanker caught fire off the coast of Johor and sank over the weekend.

The MT Kit 57 caught fire on Saturday morning, and was one of two vessels moored together. The vessel sank seven hours later on Saturday evening; no crewmembers were onboard.

The 18 crewmen of the MT Kit 57 were onboard the MT Sakses Satria 1, which was alongside the flaming vessel. The fire is initially believed to have started from a short circuit in the engine room, and subsequently spread to the ship next to it. Two crewmembers were injured in the incident and transported to a local hospital, according to Seatrade Global.

No oil spill has been reported and wreck marker buoys have been placed.

Meanwhile, authorities are investigating to determine if there was any breach in procedures or illegal activities such as ship-to-ship transfers.

Again, MT Kit 57 and MT Sakses Satria 1 were moored together, and were believed to be ferrying fuel.