Tankship Blaze Alongside PETRONAS Terminal Labuan

MISC Berhad (MISC) confirms that a fire broke out onboard its 38,000 DWT chemical/palm oil tanker, Bunga Alpinia

The vessel was alongside the PETRONAS Chemicals Methanol Sdn Bhd terminal in Labuan when the incident took place.

The ship has 29 crew members, of which 23 are Malaysians and 6 Filipinos. At present (26, July 2012), 24 have been safely brought ashore whilst 5 are still unaccounted for.

No further details of the incident are available at this point in time.

There is media speculation that an explosion on board was caused by lightning.