TANKER COLLISION: 16 RESCUED, NINE STILL MISSING

PORT DICKSON (Malaysia), Aug 19 (Bernama) -- Sixteen crew members of an oil tanker which caught fire after colliding with a bulk carrier about 20 nautical miles off this Malaysia's west coast city Tuesday night, have been rescued while nine others are still missing, police said.

The 16 crewmen, including the captain, were taken to the Port Dickson jetty
at 3.30am, Port Dickson OCPD Supt Mazlan Othman told reporters.

The search for the nine other resumed at 7am.

He also said that the vessel had drifted into Indonesian waters.

"A passing container ship assisted in rescuing the crew members," he said,
adding that some of the crew members had jumped into the sea to escape the flame
while others used the tanker's emergency boats.

He said that except for two Koreans, the rest of the 16 rescued crewmen were
from China.

"They sustain minor injuries and have been taken to the Port Dickson
Hospital," he said.

He said the heat from the burning vessel prevented rescuers from approaching
the vessel.

The tanker's captain, Jiang Han Cheng, told reporters that the vessel was
heading to Singapore to refill en route to South Korea when it collided with the
British-registered bulk carrier at about 9pm.

He said there were explosions onboard following the collision.

The bulk carrier was reported to have sustained only a slight damage and had
continued its journey to Singapore.
-- BERNAMA