UAE fire crews tackle blaze on oil ship

More than a dozen sailors were rescued from the vessel in Khalid Port on Wednesday

Firefighters tackle a fire on a boat in Sharjah's Khalid Port on Wednesday. Chris Whiteoak / The National

Firefighters tackle a fire on a boat in Sharjah's Khalid Port on Wednesday. Chris Whiteoak / The National

Firefighters tackle a fire on a boat in Sharjah's Khalid Port on Wednesday. Chris Whiteoak / The National

Fire crews tackled a blaze which ripped through a ship in Sharjah carrying thousands of gallons of diesel and more than 100 vehicles. Chris Whiteoak / The National

Firefighters tackle a fire on a boat in Sharjah's Khalid Port on Wednesday. Chris Whiteoak / The National

Firefighters tackled a blaze on board a vessel carrying thousands of tonnes of diesel on Wednesday.

Crews fought to put out flames on the ship in Sharjah's Khalid Port.

The vessel was carrying about 6,000 gallons of diesel, 120 vehicles and 300 tyres, all of which were destroyed in the fire.

Major Hani Al Naqbi, from Sharjah Civil Defence, said a report was made to the operations room at 6:44am.

Firefighters from civil defence stations in Khalid Port, Samnan and Muwaileh were dispatched to the location and controlled the fire by 7.25am.
He said that 13 crew members, all Indians, were rescued from the burning ship and ambulances conducted medical check ups on them.

“They were all in good condition and were dismissed by paramedics, none of them needed hospital treatment. Most importantly no lives were lost," he said.

Cooling of the ship is still ongoing.