Member Of The House Of Representatives Owner Of Burnt Ship At Samarinda Shipyard Denies Loading Oil, New Ship Completed To Be Repaired

The ship caught fire in the vicinity of the PT Barokah Perkasa shipyard (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - The ship that caught fire and exploded in the vicinity of the PT Barokah Perkasa shipyard, Pulau Atas Village, Sambutan District, Samarinda, East Kalimantan (Kaltim), apparently belonged to a member of the Indonesian Parliament, Rudy Mas'ud.

The red and white tanker ship named Grace V leaned on the edge of the PT Barokah Perkasa shipyard. Rudi, besides being a member of the Indonesian Parliament, is also a Commissioner of PT Barokah Perkasa Group.

Rudy admitted that the ship that caught fire belonged to him and was listed as one of the company's assets. "We don't know the cause of the fire. But it is true that PT Barokah has a subsidiary that caught fire, ”said Rudy Mas'ud when he was confirmed as reported by Antara, Thursday, February 11.

The Golkar politician added that he also did not know the chronology of the ship fires. He has sent his members to check into the field.

At the time of the incident, the ship had just finished repairing and was empty. He denied that there was an oil spill in the vicinity of the incident.

"I don't know whether because of a short circuit, negligence or because of the heat, I don't know yet," said Rudy Mas'ud.

Previously, a ship caught fire and exploded in the vicinity of the PT Barokah Perkasa shipyard, Pulau Atas Village, Sambutan District, Samarinda, East Kalimantan on Thursday afternoon

The fire broke out at around 14:50 WITA, and caused black smoke to soar around the waters of the Mahakam River, Samarinda.

According to Hermawan, a local resident, there were explosions several times and even the sound was loud up to a radius of about 500 meters.

"During the first explosion I thought the gas cylinder exploded, but then another explosion occurred and I saw many residents looking at the shipyard," said Hermawan.

According to Hermawan, a number of objects also appeared to fly into the air when the ship's explosion occurred.