Malaysia – Tank Fire at Tanjung Langsat


Ah, we welcome Malaysia as a statistic for tank fires. To quote from the Star:

18th August: TANJUNG LANGSAT: A 16,000-tonne gasoline tank belonging to oil trader Trafigura Pte Ltd caught fire at the Tanjung Langsat Port here yesterday, causing an inferno that could be seen kilometres away.

No one was reported to be injured.

At least 70 fire and rescue personnel in 11 fire engines from the Johor Baru, Johor Jaya, Pasir Gudang, and Kulai stations were trying to douse the flames at 10pm.

Fire and Rescue Department assistant director-general (operations) Amer Yusuf said the cause of the fire was not known and that there were eight other tanks nearby.

The operation was led by Johor Fire and Rescue Department deputy director Shukur Sani Hashim and assisted by the Pasir Gudang Emergency Mutual Aid Group (Pagema).

And the situation got worse today, says the Star and Bernama, which has be quoted below:

The fire which broke out Sunday at one of the eight oil storage tanks at the Tanjung Langsat Port oil depot has spread to another tank.

The incident happened as work was going on to pump out 11,200 cubic metres of Naptha from the tank by personnel from the Fire and Rescue Unit, Pasir Gudang Emergency Mutual Aid and the Pasir Gudang Municipal Council.

Tanjung Langsat Port Sdn Bhd director Lukman Abu Bakar confirmed the incident but did not say when the second tank caught fire.

“The fire spread to the second tank and we are controlling the blaze,” he said.

The fire broke out at about 6.30 pm Sunday at the first tank which had 16,000 cubic metres of gasoline.

And apparently they ran out of fire fighting materials, which allowed the fire to spread. Now, if you were in charge of the fire fighting inventory in the oil and gas industry, you would be out on a sling before the last flames had died down.

Could this be a case of risk analysis gone wrong?

One Response to Malaysia – Tank Fire at Tanjung Langsat

  1. Antar says:

    This is an interesting comment. It looks like that they ran short of fire fighting foam concentrate.

    There is a critical application rate for foam blanketing and if it is applied below the required rate, the foam does not have any effect on the on the hot burning fire.

    The foam concentrate will be wasted and eventually they will run out of foam concentrate.
    Therefore, it is very critical that they have ample foam concentrate and fire monitors when they start their foam attack.
    This is a common problem in this industry but, it is rarely acknowledged by the enforcing authorities.

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