Fire at ASL Marine unit’s Batam shipyard leaves 13 dead, 18 injured

[SINGAPORE] Another fire at a Batam shipyard belonging to an ASL Marine unit has left 13 workers dead and 18 injured, the mainboard-listed shipbuilder said on Sunday (Oct 26).

The incident occurred on Oct 15, 4.20 am (Indonesian time), on board a tanker that was undergoing floating repairs alongside a jetty at the shipyard belonging to ASL Shipyard Indonesia, the company said in the Sunday bourse filing.

ASL Marine said that it is providing necessary assistance to the affected victims and their families. It is also assisting government authorities in their investigation to determine the cause of the incident.

This tragedy comes months after an earlier fire on Jun 24 occurred on board the same tanker at the same shipyard, leaving four workers dead and five injured.

All works on board the tanker have been suspended, ASL Marine said on Sunday.

The June incident occurred at around 2.15 pm (Indonesian time) on board a floating storage and offloading vessel which was undergoing repairs beside one of the shipyard’s jetties, ASL Marine said on Jun 25.

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Four dead, five injured in fire at ASL Marine unit’s Batam shipyard

All casualties and injured employees worked for ASL Marine’s subcontractor, the group said then.

In September 2017, a fire at an ASL Marine shipyard in Batam killed five employees of the group’s subcontractor and injured one. This took place on board a tanker that was being repaired at a dock.

Shares of ASL Marine closed Friday 5 per cent or S$0.01 higher at S$0.21, before the news broke.