At least three people have been killed and three more injured on Friday after an explosion in a Malta-flagged container ship, the MSC Kyparissia (IMO: 9618599), which led to a fire.
According to the State Fire and Rescue Department's Operations Commander Mohamad Anuar Mohamad Amdzah, an explosion had occurred at 12:23 PM local time (9:53 AM IST) onboard the container ship, which had been docked at the Port of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP) in Malaysia's Johor area.
"A team of firemen arrived at the scene seven minutes later and found that the blaze broke out in the under-hatch section of Block 5 while they were unloading the containers," he said in a statement, as per a Star article.
The deceased—all crew members of the MSC Kyparissia—have been identified as a 59-year-old from Malaysia and two men in their forties from the Philippines and the UK.
The injured were identified as a 26-year-old Malaysian man and two Filipino men in their 40s.
The Kyparissia is a part of the Mediterranean Shipping Company’s (MSC) global fleet, managed by Costamare and under time charter to Maersk.
A Maersk statement, however, said that only one of the three who had died was a crew member on the MSC Kyparissia.
“At this stage, we are unable to determine the full extent of the fire’s impact on the vessel and cargo aboard. We are working closely with PTP, authorities, the vessel owner, and ship manager to manage the situation and will provide updates as more information becomes available,” the Maersk statement said, as per a Maritime Executive report.
The injured were rushed to a private hospital in Malaysia's Iskander Puteri area for treatment, amid early firefighting efforts by the PTP Fire and Rescue team using two tugboats.
Nine Fire and Rescue team members, a Fire Rescue Tender, and a utility vehicle, were also utilised to curb the flames.
"The department has also opened a forward control post and operations are still ongoing in collaboration with PTP," Anuar added.