Samarinda Port Authority: Prince Soya Ship Fire Does Not Disrupt Passenger Flow
The Samarinda Class I Port Authority and Authority (KSOP) has ensured that the fire incident involving the KM Prince Soya motor ship will not disrupt the smooth flow of maritime passenger transport. “We immediately took comprehensive mitigation steps to ensure that the sailing schedules of thousands of passengers are not stranded due to this incident,” said Yuliansyah, Head of the Sailing Safety Section of KSOP Class I Samarinda, on Saturday.
These tactical measures were taken considering that the ship, which has a capacity of 1,800 people, was originally scheduled to depart for its sailing route on Sunday at 14:00 WITA. “All rights of passengers who had previously purchased sailing tickets online remain fully met through the vessels that have been prepared,” he stated.
The emergency fire incident was first detected by port duty officers at approximately 11:02 WITA in the Samarinda Port area on Saturday. Thick black smoke originating from the ship’s deck area immediately triggered an emergency response from a joint firefighting team.
“The duty officers acted swiftly by contacting leadership to take rapid steps in coordination with Pelindo to immediately deploy firefighting fleets,” said Yuliansyah. The firefighting efforts were carried out in an integrated manner, focusing water spraying on the right deck area of the ship where the fire was located. The Port Authority also deployed one fire engine unit to support the rapid process of extinguishing the fire at the pier area.
“For the time being, we have stated that this fire incident was triggered by indications of an initial problem in an oil tank,” he explained. Expert teams, alongside police authorities, are currently conducting a deeper investigation to confirm the exact cause of the disaster. It has been confirmed that there were no casualties in the unfortunate event, as the commercial passenger ship was docked and empty at the time. “We will continue to tighten the supervision of sailing safety standards following this incident to guarantee the security of all transport service users,” concluded Yuliansyah.