Indonesian Navy landing ship suffers onboard fire; all 117 crew safe

An Indonesian Navy vessel suffered an onboard fire that necessitated the evacuation of its entire crew off Indonesia’s Southeast Sulawesi province on Saturday, June 3.

The incident occurred at around 14:00 local time on Saturday when a blaze ignited in the engine room of the landing ship KRI Teluk Hading while it was participating in routine operations near the Selyar Islands.

Other navy vessels and two Good Samaritan commercial ships diverted to the area shortly afterwards to render assistance.

The landing ship’s 117-strong crew were later brought aboard a responding rescue tug. No injuries have been reported.

Navy officials said that the crew were all safely evacuated within 30 minutes of the fire igniting and that the landing ship was subsequently towed to the nearest port.

Teluk Hading is the former Cottbus, which was operated by East Germany’s Volksmarine naval force from 1978 to 1990. The ship was acquired by the Indonesian government in 1993 and was commissioned into Indonesian Navy service the following year.