Gallery: Fire Hits Barge at Sembcorp Marine Yard

A fire broke out in a room of a cargo barge around 3:30 p.m. on August 1 at Sembcorp Marine Tuas Boulevard Yard in Singapore, according to Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF).

SCDF dispatched 70 firefighters on the scene in order to contain the fire, cool the structure and prevent fire spread.

SCDF forces also conducted interior firefighting operations within the barge during which one of the firefighters suffered a minor injury and was subsequently hospitalized.

At approximately 10:30 p.m., about seven hours upon SCDF’s arrival at the fire scene, the fire was contained. It was finally extinguished by midnight, SCDF said.

“At the height of the operation, the raging fire within the barge not only affected Deck 4 but it was deep seated burning in several cabins of Deck 3 too,” according to SCDF.

“As most of the internal wooden structures of the cabins had collapsed, this posed a severe challenge to SCDF firefighters in penetrating these cabins to swiftly mitigate the fire.”

The huge barge is 200 meters long and 50 meters wide.

It was understood that there was no one on board the barge at the time of fire and no injuries were reported.

The cause of the incident is under investigation, SCDF said.