News

Fuel remaining on board burnt vessel to be removed

June 17, 2018 5:08 am

Fuel remaining on board the burnt fishing vessel “Tuipuga” will be removed before it will be scuttled by the Maritime Safety Authority of Fiji.

The vessel caught fire at the Suva Harbour on Friday night and has been towed out into sea after firefighters could not contain the blaze.

MSAF says fishing vessels normally have its fuel tanks higher than the hull itself which for this case is expected to completely burn out.

Article continues after advertisement

Acting Chief Executive, Capt. Philip Hill says the vessel will be sunk in an area where it won’t cause damage to the marine environment or is a hazard to safety navigation.

“Whatever fuel that is remaining which is below the tank tops of the ship that is the like the floor level down in the engine room, that will be checked and then we will extract all that fuel and once the ship is clean of fuel then will sink it because as the moment the whole structure has been burnt out and the ship cannot be reused so obviously we will need to scuttle the ship.”

However, MSAF says they are still yet to ascertain the cause of fire.

It’s believed the vessel berthed at the wharf to discharge its catch and was reloading to return to the fishing ground.