All 10 seafarers have managed to evacuate safely from a burning Chinese cargo ship off Indonesia.
The Kompas daily reported that the Tanzania-flagged 5,300-dwt Da Hao (built 2019) was discovered by residents partially sunken off the village of Haka on Binongko island in Sulawesi.
“The cargo ship that caught fire sank at the lighthouse cape on Binongko Island,” said Togi Binongko sub-district head Saaludin.
“The upper room of the ship was burnt,” he added.
Video footage showed black smoke billowing from the stern.
The mini-bulker plied a route between East Nusa Tenggara, Timor Leste and Papua New Guinea.
The ship caught fire while in the Banda Sea.
It then went adrift and was carried by the current until it ran aground.
“The crew members have been evacuated by a ship passing from Singapore to Australia,” Saludin was cited as saying.
The crew consisted of eight Indonesians and two Chinese.
‘Spectacle for residents’
The ship remained off Haka on Monday and is described as becoming a “spectacle” for local people.
The vessel is shown by its former name of Culand on AIS, from which there has been no update for nine days.
The Da Hao is operated by Fineway Marine Service in China, which could not be contacted.
The bulker was detained in June in Papua New Guinea with 11 deficiencies.
These included faults with ventilation and remote means of control in machinery spaces, plus oil filtering equipment and oil fuel tank protection.
