Fish Cooling Machine Explodes, Three Ships at Muara Baru Harbor Burn

Three ships at Muara Baru Harbor, Penjaringan, North Jakarta caught fire. Fire due to explosion of fish cooling machine.

HUMAS GULKARMAT JAKARTA UTARA

Officers from the North Jakarta Fire and Safety Prevention Agency extinguished the remnants of a fire at the Muara Baru Port, Penjaringan District, North Jakarta on Monday (6/5/2024).

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — Three ships at Port Muara Baru, Penjaringan, Jakarta The North burned down, Sunday (5/5/2024). The fire is thought to have been caused by an electrical short circuit in the fish cooling machine on KM Rezeki Abundant, then the fire spread to two other ships. There were no casualties in this incident.

Duty officer of the North Jakarta and Thousand Islands Fire and Safety Handling (Gulkarmat) Eko Budiyanto stated on Monday (6/5/2024) that the fire occurred around 2:47 PM. Ten minutes later, officers arrived at the location to extinguish the fire.

"When they arrived, three ships were already on fire," said Eko.

At that time, 13 fleets with 60 personnel were deployed to extinguish the fire. At 3:25 pm, the fire could already be localized and followed by the cooling stage. "The cooling process was only completed at 10:49 pm," he said.

However, on Monday (5/6/2024), five hotspots appeared on the three ships. Thus, three fleets with 12 personnel were brought in to extinguish the fire. By Monday afternoon, all extinguishing processes had been completed.

Also read: Two Fishing Boats Burned at Muara Baru Harbor

HUMAS GULKARMAT JAKARTA UTARA

Officers from the North Jakarta Fire and Safety Prevention Agency extinguished the remnants of a fire at the Muara Baru Port, Penjaringan District, North Jakarta on Monday (6/5/2024).

It is possible that when the ship caught fire, they had already escaped.

According to the examination results, said Eko, the ship's fire was caused by an electrical short circuit in the fish cooling machine on KM Rezeki Melimpah. Coincidentally, at that time, the ship's crew was in the process of loading and unloading, and an explosion occurred.

The fire caused by the explosion then spread to the maritime vessel KM and hit KM Rezeki Malindo. The area of the fire reached 210 square meters. Fortunately, several ships docked near the three ships had been evacuated, so the impact of the fire did not spread.

"If estimated, losses due to the fire reached IDR 3 billion," said Eko.

There were no casualties in this incident. It is possible that the crew had already left the ship when the explosion occurred.

Previously, there were reports that three people were suspected to be trapped in KM Rezeki Melimpah during a fire at Muara Baru pier, Penjaringan, North Jakarta. North Jakarta Gulkarmat Sudin Duty Officer, Dede Budi, stated that two machine technicians and one crew member were known to be on board the ship at the time of the incident.

Also read: Four Ships Burn at Cilacap Ocean Fishing Harbor

"The KM Rezeki Melimpah was the beginning of the fire. According to the ship's crew, it is indicated or estimated that there were three casualties, one crew member and two engine technicians," said Dede Budi after extinguishing the fire at the scene in Muara Baru Port on Sunday night, May 5, 2024.

ARSIP BASARNAS CILACAP

A number of ships around Wijayapura Pier, Cilacap, Central Java, caught fire, Tuesday (3/5/2022).

The information was obtained from the crew of the ship who managed to save themselves. However, after examining the whereabouts of the three victims who were suspected of being trapped, they were no longer found.

"Until Monday morning, their whereabouts (the ship's crew) were unknown. It is possible that when the ship caught fire, they had already saved themselves," said Eko.

A similar incident has happened before. Two ships anchored at Muara Baru Fishery Port, Penjaringan, caught fire on Wednesday (20/3/2024) afternoon. Fortunately, at the time of the incident, not many ships were docked, so it did not cause a bigger fire impact.

Head of the Operations Section of the North Jakarta and Seribu Islands North Jakarta and Thousand Islands Fire Handling and Rescue Sub-Department, Abdul Wahid, said that his party received a report of the ship catching fire at around 16.00. Officers immediately came to the location with four fire engines.

"At that time, the fire grew bigger due to strong winds, so we added a total of 15 units and 75 firefighters. Only two ships and quick responders were able to localize it so that it did not spread to other ships. There were no casualties or injuries," said Abdul on Thursday (21/3/2024).