Efforts to put out blaze on 11 containers still going on

SHAH ALAM: Efforts are still on-going to put out the fire on 11 industrial goods containers, which have been ablaze on a cargo vessel in the Carey Island waters since last Wednesday.

Selangor Fire and Rescue Department deputy director Hafisham Mohd Noor said it received an emergency call at 5.38pm on April 7 about five containers having caught fire. The blaze then spread to the remaining containers yesterday.

“So far, five containers have been completely extinguished, while sodium carbonate peroxyhydrate has been used to cool three more containers.

“Efforts are on-going to put out the fire in three more containers,” he said in a statement yesterday.

He said a total of 47 firemen from the stations in Port Klang, North Port, Westport as well as the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA), Marine Police and Naval Special Forces (Paskal) were involved in the operation at 15 nautical miles off the Carey Island. It was reported that the Interasia Catalyst cargo vessel sailing from Port Klang to Cochin in Kerala, India, was ordered to return to port after smoke was detected coming from several containers stacked on its deck.