Chinese crewman missing after vessel catches fire

Chinese crewman missing after vessel catches fire

Jakarta, Agence France-Presse

A Chinese crewman remained missing after a tanker functioning as a fuel station for fishing boats caught fire in the sea off the Indonesian province of Maluku, a port official said Sunday.

Ten people were rescued.

The PSTJ-03 tanker, floating in the sea off the Maluku island of Ambon, had some 120 tonnes of fuel in store when fire broke out early Saturday, said Agam Guling of the Ambon port administration.

"The Dwi Bayu navy ship found 10 of the 11 crew known to have been on board the tanker, four of them were in critical condition," Guling said.

A Chinese crewman he identified as Wu Yongzeng, 32, was still missing, he added.

The tanker, he said, was privately owned.

Many foreign nationals, mostly from China, Taiwan and Thailand, work on the large fishing fleets trawling the waters of eastern Indonesia.