Five crew members have died in a fire on a veteran product tanker off Indonesia.
Police said the 1,250-dwt Elisabet (built 1992) caught fire on Wednesday near Gili Tepekong on the island of Bali, leaving 15 other seafarers injured, AP reported.
Twenty-one crew members were on board the Indonesia-flagged ship, which was en route to West Nusa Tenggara province, police said.
A crew member was quoted as saying the ship suffered an explosion near the accommodation block.
The chief officer found the helmsman lying on the deck with burns on his body, Karangasem police chief Nengah Sadiarta told AP.
The tanker lost power and then a second explosion occurred, he said.
“After checking, it was found that there was a fire in the engine room. The crew gathered at the muster station, but there were five people who did not join and were found dead,” Sadiarta added.
Three colleagues sustained serious burns and 12 others were being treated for minor injuries.
The captain was reported to be safe.
Probe begins
The cause of the fire is being investigated.
The owner is listed by shipping databases as Arta Samudera of Indonesia, which could not be contacted.
VesselsValue assesses the Elisabet as worth $1.35m.
No port state control inspections are listed for the vessel on the Equasis website, and the insurer is not known.
