Ship Carrying Over 600 Cows Catches Fire

A livestock carrier transporting 634 head of cattle caught fire this morning after departing from an Indonesian port. 

The fire occurred in the early morning hours about five miles away from the Port Tenau Kupang while en route to Samarinda city. Local news sources have reported that the 1050 dwt Asia Raya was overloaded and listing when crew members sent up rescue flares. The sparks from the flares caught fire on grass and feed being kept for livestock, which resulted in the vessel catching fire. 

The Indonesian National Search and Rescue Agency (Barsanas) mounted a rescue operation to save the crew aboard. Around 40 crew members were rescued from the burning vessel with one missing crew member later discovered in the water surrounding the vessel. All the crew members survived, and efforts were later made to evacuate the cattle from the vessel. It is not known how many cattle died in the incident. 

The burnt ship has been transported back to the coast for repairs.