Three injured after cargo ship catches fire off Taiwan

Three people suffered varying degrees of injury as a result of an explosion and a subsequent fire on board a cargo vessel off Kaohsiung, Taiwan, on Wednesday, June 12. The locally-registered, 52-metre coastal carrier Hui Feng was approximately 27 kilometres off the coast when the blast and the resulting blaze occurred in its engine room.

The crew worked for more than an hour to extinguish the fire. However, the flames continued to spread and the vessel was already engulfed in thick black smoke by the time search and rescue (SAR) teams arrived at the scene.

The Taiwan Coast Guard Administration (TCGA), with the support of aircraft deployed by the National Airborne Service Corps, successfully evacuated all 12 crewmembers from the stricken ship. Three individuals, identified as one Indonesian and two Taiwanese nationals, suffered burn injuries and needed to be airlifted to hospital.

The TCGA and the Republic of China Navy are continuing to keep a close watch on Hui Feng as it is drifting off the coast. The ship's bunkers still reportedly have 45 tonnes of diesel contained within, though no signs of pollution have yet been detected in the surrounding waters.