MARIVELES, Bataan — A sea vessel undergoing repair at the Seafront Shipyard in Barangay Lucanin here on Tuesday morning caught fire of still unknown origin and the amount of damage it left still being determined.
SFO4 Recto Imperial, Mariveles fire marshal, said they received a call at past 8 in the morning that a vessel in the shipyard was on fire.
With responding three firetrucks from Mariveles, two from the Authority of Freeport Area of Bataan, two from Limay, and one from Barangay Lamao, Imperial said that the fire was placed under control at 11:45 a.m. and fire-out declared at 11:50 of the same morning.
Imperial said Seafront’s safety officer informed them that the vessel, formerly a freezer cargo container, is not operational and was taken for repair at the dockyard for already a month.
He said he was not sure if the vessel was being rehabilitated or undergoing conversion.
Still quoting from the safety officer, the fire marshal said workers were changing the plating and were conducting hot works in the lower middle portion of the vessel when fire broke out.
The workers were able to get out of the vessel safely. No one was hurt.
Imperial said that damaged were portions in the vessel with insulator or styro materials, the vessel being formerly functioning as a freezer cargo container. He said that as a whole, the vessel was empty except for the engine that was not affected by the fire.
“Hindi naman kalakihan ang sunog kaya lang hindi basta-basta mapasok dahil confined space kaya nagsagawa kami ng possible entry o ventilation. Pinabutasan namin ang ilalim at ibabaw ng barko and then later mayroon namang parang takip ay pinabuhat na lang namin sa crane para makalabas ang usok,” the fire chief said.
“Hindi kami kaagad makapag-declare ng under control hangga’t hindi nakikita ang ilalim kasi mausok sa loob at hindi pa din masabi na under control kasi hindi nakikita ang pinagmumulan ng usok which is natural lang sa mga confined spaces.” Imperial furthered.
“Kung pamilyar kayo sa freezer na may parang styro yan na insulator at iyon ang nasunog, ang paligid nito kaya lang hindi mapatay kaagad kasi gumawa pa kami ng butas sa ilalim para makapasok kasi kung mangaggaling sa itaas ay hindi mape-penetrate,” he said.
“Masu-suffocate at buti na lang enough naman ang aming mga breathing apparatus dahil kung wala nito ay hindi namin mapapasok ang loob nito,” Imperial added.
He said that investigation is still going on to determine the real cause of the fire and the amount of damage.
