Explosion and Fire Kills One Crewmember in the Philippines

[Brief] 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.

Fire crews were continuing to cool the vessel (Philippine Coast Guard) 

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. 

INCIDENT REPORT: The @coastguardph has responded to a fire onboard incident involving M/V General Romulo with 20 crew members onboard at the vicinity waters off Talisay City, Cebu today, 17 April 2022.https://t.co/gpuvLzircK#DOTrPH ????????#CoastGuardPH#MaritimeSectorWorks pic.twitter.com/FdqO3n2fek

— Philippine Coast Guard (@coastguardph) April 17, 2022