The chemical/palm oil tanker Bunga Alpinia caught fire, while berthed alongside at Petronas Chemicals Methanol Sdn Bhd terminal in Labuan, Malaysia. The fire started, during the cargo operations this morning (on 26th July 2012) and caused missing of 5 crew members and serious injured of 1 person. Bunga Alpinia chemical tanker was operating in East Africa and arrived to discharge cargo in Malaysia, when fire on board started from technical breakdown. On board of the ship there were 29 crew members – 23 Malaysians and 6 Filipinos. The port authorities send immediately tugs for fire fighting, but still there is no details if the fire is extinguished. The ship is loaded with methanol, as it is highly explodable cargo. The local authorities are investigating the reasons for the accident and still search for the missing 5 crew members.
The cargo ship Bunga Alpinia (IMO: 9389538) is pretty large chemical/palm oil tanker, which has deadweight of 37,961 DWT and gross tonnage of 25,709 GRT. The ship Bunga Alpinia has length of 180.00 m, beam of 32.00 m and maximum draft of 7.50 m. The ship was built in 2010 in South Korean shipyard Stx Offshore & Shipbuilding. The ship is operated and owned by The Malaysian company MISC Berhad (MISC).