20 Fire Engines Battle Blaze on Basarnas Vessel in Muara Baru

Ramli Prasetio, public relations officer of the Jakarta Search and Rescue Office, confirmed that the KN SAR Ramawijaya 240, the main vessel of the Basarnas Mentawai Search and Rescue Office, caught fire whilst undergoing annual maintenance, or docking, at a shipyard owned by PT Proskuneo Kadarusman in Muara Baru, North Jakarta, on Wednesday evening (22 July).

“The vessel that caught fire belongs to Basarnas Mentawai, and currently 20 fire engines are extinguishing the fire at the location,” said Ramli Prasetio, public relations officer of the Jakarta SAR Office, in Jakarta on Wednesday (22 July).

According to him, the vessel does not belong to the Jakarta SAR Office. However, it was undergoing annual repairs at a company located in the Muara Baru area of North Jakarta. “At present, the fire extinguishing process is under way,” said Ramli.

Meanwhile, Gatot Sulaeman, head of the operations section of the North Jakarta and Thousand Islands Fire and Rescue Sub-Department, said 14 fire engines along with 70 personnel had been deployed to extinguish the blaze.

“At the moment, the situation is still in the cooling-down phase,” said Gatot.

He said residents reported the vessel fire at 7.58pm Western Indonesia Time. Officers then arrived at the location and began extinguishing the fire at 8.03pm. “As of 8.44pm, the fire is still being cooled down,” Gatot revealed.

He said officers are still working in the field to gather witness statements regarding the cause of the fire. “We are still collecting information on the cause and the estimated losses,” Gatot added.