From the Star – Six Hurt in Oil Platform Blaze

December 24, 2010

Taken from the Star, dateline 2010-12-15:

Six offshore oil rig workers were injured when a fire broke out at the Bekok C platform operated by Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd about 200km off Terengganu waters.

They were among 102 people who were carrying out chores at the site when the incident occurred at 12.05am yesterday. All of them were evacuated to another platform by Petronas’ emergency response team.

Petronas Carigali said 108 workers were on the platform when the fire broke out.

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Malaysia – Tank Fire at Tanjung Langsat

August 20, 2008

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?