Three injured in chemical tanker fire at Mumbai Port Trust

Three crew members were on Friday injured when a Marshall Islands-flagged chemical tanker parked at the Mumbai Port Trust here caught fire, an official said.

The chemical tanker 'Royal Diamond 7' was berthed at the New Pir Pau berth (chemical jetty) at the port to discharge a consignment of 2000 tons of Toluene imported by Aegis Chemicals Limited.

The vessel had completed the cargo discharge operations by 11:30 AM and was carrying out stripping move for sailing out. However, before the ship could set out of the pier, an explosion occurred at its fore.

"It appears that the blaze started from one of the holes at the fore below the deck of the tanker," the official said.

The Port fire service personnel sprung into action to douse the blaze which was immediately brought under control with the help of fire tenders of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), Tata Power and Aegis.

"Four fire fighting tugs have also been pressed into service," said an official.

The Chairman of the port trust had deputed the deputy conservator and the chief mechanical engineer to the chemical jetty to personally supervise the fire-fighting operations, he said.

According to officials, the vessel will be removed from jetty to a safer location in the harbour.