Chinese tanker fire under control in the Strait of Malacca

Malaysian authorities have put out most of the fires on a tanker carrying 58,000 tonnes of naphtha after it was involved in a collision with a cargo vessel in the Strait of Malacca, a Malaysian official said on Thursday.

A Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) official said there were still no signs of a spill of naphtha, and that search efforts were continuing for nine of the tanker's 25-member crew.

The rest were rescued by a passing vessel soon after the collision on Tuesday.

"Reports from firefighers on site as of 5.30 a.m. (2130 GMT) said most of the fires are out, so the focus now is ensuring the cargo doesn't leak," the official told Reuters.

The official added that the ship, though listing, was not in any immediate danger of sinking.

Oil traders said the Cargill-chartered tanker, Formosaproduct Brick, was shipping the cargo of naphtha, a petrochemical feedstock, from the United Arab Emirates to Daesan and Yosu in South Korea.

The origin of the naphtha was probably the Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC), with which U.S. trader Cargill has a term contract to lift around 100,000 tonnes for an unspecified period, traders added.

The official said a report from the tanker's captain, who was among the 16 rescued crewmen, noted the possibility that the nine missing crew did not manage to abandon ship after the collision with the Ostende Max, a British-registered bulk carrier.