Crew members have been evacuated from a car carrier that was hit by a fire off Malaysia.
The Bernama news agency reported that 19 seafarers were taken off the 1,536-ceu Malaysia Star (built 1992) on Monday, 9.1 nautical miles (17 km) off Tanjung Laboh.
Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) maritime commander Mohammad Zaini Zainal said his team had received a distress call from the Maritime Rescue Sub Centre at 08:40 local time.
Two MMEA patrol ships and a Maritime Police Force boat headed to the scene.
The 18 Filipinos and one Malaysian seafarer on board were transferred to the patrol vessels and were said to be safe and uninjured.
They were later disembarked in Batu Pahat.
Zainal said the blaze broke out near the ship’s fuel tanks and firefighting efforts continued.
No fuel spills were reported.
The vessel was scheduled to reach Kota Kinabalu on Thursday, having left Port Klang on 1 December.
The last AIS update from a day ago showed the ship at anchor in the Strait of Malacca.
The Malaysia-flagged car carrier has insurance cover through the Standard Club in the UK.
The vessel is operated by HKK Jaya of Kuala Lumpur, which could not be contacted.
The Malaysia Star was last detained by port state control safety inspectors in 2022.
The most recent check in June in Bangladesh showed three faults with fire detection, fire dampers and doors.
