Five men have been killed and one person has been injured in a fire aboard a ship under repair at ASL Marine’s facility in Batam.
The Singapore-listed company said the incident took place last Thursday on board an unnamed tanker that was being repaired at one of its dry docks.
Reports from Indonesia suggest the ship involved is the Pertamina-owned 88,250-dwt Gamkonora (built 2012).
“Initial investigations suggest that the fire started inside and was confined to the pump room,” ASL Marine said in a statement.
“Whilst this may restrict damage and deaths, nevertheless five people died and one person is injured, they were employees of our subcontractor.”
ASL Marine said it was “saddened by this incident and the loss of lives” and it extended its deepest condolences to the families of the victims.
“As a matter of priority, we will be working diligently together with our subcontractor to help the affected workers and their families and are rendering the necessary assistance to them” it added.
ASL Marine said the investigation will continue and until the cause is established, work on the vessel will be suspended.
“We are also co-operating with the authorities in Indonesia to establish the cause of the fire,” it added.
ASL Marine has two yards in Batam, both located in a free trade zone with industrial areas designated specifically for shipyards.
One of the yards is equipped with a 300,000-dwt graving dry dock and two medium-sized graving dry docks of 60,000-dwt and 20,000-dwt, and is capable of repairing up to capesize vessels.
