April 19 ------ The Philippine Coast Guard is reporting that one seafarer was killed while nineteen others along with three contractors were rescued from a containership that caught fire anchored in the central Philippines on Sunday, April 17. Three crewmembers, however, were admitted to a local hospital with reports of burns.
The Philippine-registered vessel General Romulo, 5250 dwt, operated an inter-island container service. Reports indicate that the vessel had loaded 2,218 tons of general cargo in Manila. The 25-year old vessel built in 1998 has a capacity of 519 TEU. She departed Manila on April 13 on her normal inter-island run and had arrived off Talisay City, Cebu, and was at anchor when the fire began around 9:40 am local time.
At least five boats responded to the fire and were able to evacuate the crew from the vessel. Indications are that there was a pipe explosion in the engine room that caused the blaze which spread through the accommodations block of the vessel. The Coast Guard reported a survey of the area showed no oil spill or contamination. They were continuing boundary cooling to reduce the heat on the vessel to prevent the fire from reigniting.
Source: maritime-executive.com
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