Reviewing the incident: Saiful Lizan showing a picture of the engulfed vessel during a press conference at the Johor maritime headquarters in Johor Baru. — THOMAS YONG/The Star
JOHOR BARU: Shipmaster Lepyoshkin Oleksandr thought he was at war when the Gabon-registered crude oil tanker ship under his command exploded after it caught fire some 60km northeast of Tanjung Sedili.
The 38-year-old Ukrainian said his crude oil carrier named MT Pablo was on its way from China to Singapore, when the incident took place at around 3pm on Monday.
“Believe me, in this situation, it was like in a war, and inhaling the fume caused me to lose my mind.
“Together with my chief engineer, we tried our best to save our crew, where I should be the last to abandon the vessel.
“Our lifeboats were completely damaged due to the fire, and we threw our life rafts into the sea before jumping into them,” he said during a press conference held at Johor Maritime Department’s headquarters here yesterday.
Oleksandr added that prior to the incident, he noticed a fire coming from the upper deck and immediately grabbed a fire extinguisher to put it out, but was greeted by a massive explosion.
“The fire started at the middle part of the vessel, and I tried contacting my crew but only my chief engineer answered my call. We tried contacting rescue agencies but our system went down.
“We saw some passing vessels before jumping into the sea with our life rafts, hoping to be rescued,” he said, adding that he believed that his three missing crewmen were still alive.
The ship carried 28 crew members of various nationalities, including from India, Ukraine, Russia and Pakistan.
The three missing crewmen are two Indian nationals – Satyam Tripathi, 26, and Dinesh Kumar Chauhan, 34 – and a Ukrainian, Sabit Shenderovsky, 37.
Meanwhile, the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) acting director-general Rear Admiral (M) Datuk Saiful Lizan Ibrahim said the search area has been extended to 71 nautical miles (131km) from the location where the incident took place.“There is a possibility that the missing crew might still be alive. We are doing the search and rescue operation together with assistance from police, navy, Marine Department, Johor Port, and Pasir Gudang Port,” he added.
Saiful Lizan also said of the 25 crewmen that were rescued, four sustained serious injuries to their hands, waist and legs, and had been sent to Hospital Kota Tinggi for treatment.
He added there were no sightings of oil spill coming from the Gabon-registered oil tanker but the agency was monitoring the situation closely.
“The tanker is empty and was on its way to Singapore from China to pick up crude oil before the incident took place.
“So far, MMEA patrol boats near the engulfed tanker have yet to report any oil spill. However, we are still assessing the situation,” he said.
He added that MMEA had also requested assistance from the Fire and Rescue Department, which would deploy its hazardous materials unit to the scene as soon as possible.
“For now, our focus is the search and rescue operation before carrying out an investigation on what might have caused the fire.
“This is to ensure the safety of our personnel before boarding the vessel,” he said.
As precautionary measures, the Marine Department has also issued a directive to other vessels to stay clear of the area for the time being.
In an earlier statement, Johor MMEA director First Admiral Nurul Hizam Zakaria said the Johor Baru maritime rescue centre received a distress call about the incident at 4pm on Monday.
