The Bunga Alpina ablaze in Labuan, Malaysia
UPDATE (7/27/12): Bunga Alpinia Death Toll Rises to Three
Original (7/26/12): An explosion and fire, reportedly the result of a lightning strike, engulfed the Malaysian International Shipping Company (MISC)-owned, 38,000 DWT IMO II chemical/palm oil tanker, Bunga Alpinia, while inport Labuan, Malaysia. The fire broke out at approximately 2.30am (local time) while the vessel was loading methanol at the PETRONAS Chemicals Methanol Sdn Bhd terminal in Labuan.
MISC reports that the ship had 29 crew members, made up of 23 Malaysians and 6 Filipinos. MISC has confirmed that one crewmember has been killed and another 4 are still missing.
Fires raged throughout the night as offshore supply vessels doused the fires with their water cannons.
Sources from the Maritime Response Coordination Centre (MRCC) told a local newspaper that as of 11am local time, rescue personnel were still trying to put out the blaze on the tanker. The MRRC spokesman also noted their main concern now is to prevent the tanker from hitting the nearby methanol silo, located a mere 150 meters from the now adrift, and burning vessel.
Authorities fear that if the flames from the tanker ignite the methanol silo, it could result in massive destruction of the surrounding area.
“That is our biggest fear at the concern at the moment. An outcome like that would be catastrophic, to say the least,” said the source. As a precautionary measure, PETRONAS Chemicals Group (PCG) has shut down its 660,000 tonne/year methanol (PML) 1 unit.
Additional images via perkapalanmalaysia.com
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- The Bunga Alpina ablaze
kailangan pag nasa pwerto palagi babantayan ang dapat anumang mangyayari para maiwasan ang mga bagay na hindi mangyayari o anumang aksedente, kailangan sa operation bantayan ng maayos, hindi dapat gumagawa ng anumang bagay na wala sa koneksyon sa operation,.kaya nandun ang ng yayari ang mga accidente, ex. mag uutos c/o off.mag walis, moop, gusto kalinisan lagi iniintindi, pero tama yun eh kaso ala na sa lugar nasa pweto sya.dapat focus sa kargamento hindi focus sa dume,,,
baka waste management ang major nian!
kulang sa ISPS yan…
read the first paragraph of the article…
wala nman may kasalanan dba? lightning strikes ang dahilan! hehe, katuwa nman. ^_^
loading operation considered critical operation lalo na sa tanker flamable kaya cautious palagi sa mga d inaasahang pangyayari, tutok plagi sa trbaho at pinaka importanti dyn yung working time.
daiiwaiwasan
read the article…lightning strike….
bago kayo magcomment basahin nyong maigi ang balita, tinamaan ng kidlat habang nagloload ng methanol-sinong makakapigil sa kidlat, nagdudunong dunongan kayo…
Hi Guys! Please write in English like that I can understand what was going on with that chemical tanker; I’m also working on board chemical tanker, trading in baltic sea the most of the time.
many thanks in advance.
basahin muna bago mag kuminto.
kasi ligthning strike nga.
I think lightning would not be priimary reason of the explosion of Alpinia..there's is some other reason or source of the explosion..I look at the vessel it was unladen it means on stripping operation…empty tanks are more dangerous..also normally cargo tank hatch was open as I experience…I think this would another human error! Let us pray for the repose of the soul of the died seaman…Always think safety!
and also have a good weather condition.
I think lightning would not be priimary reason of the explosion of Alpinia..there's is some other reason or source of the explosion..I look at the vessel it was unladen it means on stripping operation…empty tanks are more dangerous..also normally cargo tank hatch was open as I experience…I think this would another human error! Let us pray for the repose of the soul of the died seaman…Always think safety!
I've been at anchor in Victoria Harbour, Labuan for almost 2 weeks now. The night of the explosion we had some scattered showers which included lightning. Not saying lightning was the cause but it was definitely in the area that night.
I think lightning would not be priimary reason of the explosion of Alpinia..there’s is some other reason or source of the explosion..I look at the vessel it was unladen it means on stripping operation…empty tanks are more dangerous..also normally cargo tank hatch was open as I experience…I think this would another human error! Let us pray for the repose of the soul of the died seaman…Always think safety!
any person have an idea of doing class 2 from Malaysians acedamy
Dear All,
aa)
It is sad to see loss of life, uncontrolled fire and explosions. Our deepest sympathy and condolences to all the the families of crew members affected.
bb)
May GOD’s blessing for Peace of mind and Renewed Strength to go forward with the future be always be with:
- All the surviving crew members;
- All those involved in rescuing to safety all the crew members and others on board
during the explosions;
- Fire fighting vessel Masters, Crew and
- Malaysian Authorities engaged in Control and Coordination in putting out the fires and
also to protect the terminals and installations from further disasters and more
casualties
- All the Company Personnel (MISC and Petronas) who are directly involved with the
Emergency Response and Subsequent Investigations
cc)
Let the investigation take place transparently with input from ship staff and others concerned without fear for the sake of seamen who have perished. the outcome of transparent investigation will enable us to learn more on source of explosion and loss life and property and how to mitigate future incidents and prevent loss of life.
dd)
Do not blame but learn from mistakes to improve. Stop this blame culture.
As humans , Mistakes and Accidents will always happen. We need courage to support those in difficult situation irrespective of whether they had made mistakes or not and move on.
ee)
It has been 100 years since TITANIC sank and we had continued to improve not to repeat similar incident but Costa Concardia capsized this year due similar structural/subdivision problems.
Why ? It is always ‘money first’ then lives of people.
ff)
Practice at most ports is that, for 1st foot sampling,in practice mostly Ullage port/Butterworth hatch or Tank hatches covers are open and samples taken with samplers after releasing vapor pressure.
Some times these are not closed during the 1st foot loading to avoid vapor pressure build up in tank OR having to climb up and open PV valve to manually to release vapor pressure before the Ullage port/Butterworth hatch or Tank hatches covers are open to lower sampler nto tank.
At Some terminals 1st foot sampling can be taken at pump stack (where there is fitting) by running pump after stopping 1st foot loading. In this case there is not requirement to release vapor pressure.
Closed sampler can be used but it is impractical unless dedicated sampler is available
to avoid contamination of sampler when previously used for other cargoes. Most ship’s are provided with one closed sampler only and it is not cleaned and tested before being used for sensitive cargoes. the other problem is time taken and transfer to sample bottles. there have been many incident of contamination of samples taken using closed samplers with huge loss of times for multiple samplings using closed samplers and analysis and finally using ‘open’ sampling using samplers lowered into tank using by opening Ullage port/Butterworth hatch or Tank hatche covers.
Carlos
Please try to read and analyse the root of case before you make any comment don’t be so stupid…nobody likes that incident its a natures by freak lightning not human error…are you with us,,,we are very lucky that we re just departed when that’s happen we are loading in same terminal southern zebra…condolence to my fellow brothers and to their family…
Sir
Well, one of my principal want to load RBD from Malaysia to india port is any vessel owner ready to load cargo if so pls come on my email id as rajuchandiramani09@gmail.com
rgds / raju chandiramani