PORT DICKSON: Eight foreign fishermen had to be rescued from the sea when they abandoned their 56m-long vessel after its engine room caught fire near the busy Malacca Straits yesterday morning.
Two explosions were heard from the Taiwan-registered vessel, Jiang Sheng 18, which had stalled 15 nautical miles to the south of the Port Dickson coast. The deep sea fishermen, two from Taiwan and six Filipinos, were returning to Singapore from Mauritius with their catch when the fire broke out at 7am. Within half an hour, two rescue boats were rushed to the scene after the Johor Baru Maritime Rescue Sub Centre alerted the Kuala Linggi Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA). The crew, meanwhile, were rescued by a Star Virgo luxury cruise liner that was on its way to Port Klang from Singapore. They were brought to the Star Cruises Terminal in Port Klang at 1pm for medical attention. District maritime enforcement head Capt Ibrahim Mohamed said efforts were ongoing to put out the fire and haul the vessel to the Port Dickson jetty. “The vessel will be towed away from the busy shipping lane while attempts will be made to contact its agent for salvage operations.” Ibrahim added that an investigation would be conducted to determine the actual cause of the fire in the vessel’s engine room. In Port Klang, the captain of the fishing vessel, Choio Ching Yuan, said he ordered his crew to abandon ship when the fire became uncontrollable. “I told them to put on their life jackets and jump overboard to save themselves. I was the last to jump. I did not expect this to happen. All we wanted was to make some money in fishing,” the 59-year-old said at the MMEA office in Pulau Indah yesterday. Looking dejected, Choio said all he wanted to do now was to go home and be with his family. He said the ship owners had been informed of the fire and they were waiting for further instructions. MMEA area enforcement chief Captain Mohd Amir Hamzah said the fishermen, aged between 25 and 59, were in good health despite being in the water for more than two hours. “We have contacted their embassies to help to send them home.” Source: News Straits Times
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