KM Umsini Fires, A Number Of Delayed Ships Deployed For Extinguishing

KM Umsini fire extinguishing (Doc. ANTARA)

The incident of KM Umsini that caught fire at Makassar Port, former Soekarno-Hatta, South Sulawesi was quickly responded to by a number of parties. One of them is PT Pelindo Jasa Maritim, Subholding PT Pelabuhan Indonesia (Persero) which helps the extinguishing process by deploying tug boats to the incident area.

"The blackout process went smoothly and collaborated with Pertamina's fleet so that the potential for greater fire hazards could be avoided," said Corporate Secretary of PT Pelindo Jasa Maritime Tubagus Patrick Tribudi Utama Iskandar in Makassar, as reported by ANTARA, Sunday.

He explained that the ship fire occurred at 00:00 p.m. local time, causing panic among hundreds of passengers and crew members. The ship owned by PT Pelni sailed from Bau-Bau to Makassar, with the condition of all passengers declared safe.

The emergency response measures were taken by several tugboats in the surrounding area, namely the Jayanegara 201 Tunda Ship (KT), KT Anoman VIII, and KT Anoman IX owned by Pelindo. Another tugboat, TB Wisnu owned by Pertamina also helped extinguish the fire.

In collaboration with the blackout process, KT Jayanegara 201 which has a capacity of 1,000 liters per minute with a range of 130 meters takes action as a smoothing by blocking the center of fire with fire fighting bursts.

Meanwhile, KT Anggada VIII and KT. Anggada IX acts as cooling ship walls so that the impact of the fire does not spread, and TB Wisnu helps with cooling.

This collaboration between tugboats helps extinguish the fire that burned KM Umsini at the local port can prevent greater potential hazards.

Furthermore, thousands of passengers were successfully evacuated to the Anging Mammiri Port Passenger Terminal in Makassar with a capacity of 3,000 people. Accelerate the evacuation process and handle the incident so that the shipping flow around the waters is not disrupted.

Previously, KM Umsini caught fire while leaning for transit at Makassar Port after sailing from Baubau, Southeast Sulawesi to Surabaya.

The ship carried 1,084 passengers consisting of 718 passengers from Surabaya and 652 passengers. All passengers were declared safe.

The fire incident when Wita was about to leave, the ship suddenly emitted thick smoke visible from the second deck, or on the engine of the KM Umsini ship. Although it was successfully extinguished, so far the authorities are still investigating the cause of the fire.