Hours after a fire broke out onboard the Liberia-flagged cruise ship World Legacy on Friday (Feb 20) morning, which resulted in the death of an Indonesian crew member, several members —who are not part of the core crew left behind for essential duties — disembarked in Singapore.
Two members, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AsiaOne that while they did not know the dead crew member, the experience was a stressful one.
One member, who has been working onboard World Legacy for only a few months, said this was the first incident he encountered onboard.
“I panicked for a moment,” he admitted, citing the short time he had spent onboard.
The crew member, a Southeast Asian, said the non-core crew will be going to a hotel provided for them, but was unsure of the plans for them in the coming days.
Another crew member, also a Southeast Asian, told AsiaOne that he was “very stressed” when the fire broke out at the lounge on deck nine at about 4am as he was on duty.
He claimed that he was not aware that a fellow crew member had died, until he found out from others while they were being ferried to HarbourFront Terminal on Friday evening.
“They did not want to tell us at the start because they don’t want us to panic,” he added.
According to the crew member, the fire, which lasted till around lunchtime, was believed to be caused by a short circuit.
These two were part of the over 200 crew members — mostly Filipinos and Indians — who arrived at the Singapore Cruise Centre at HarbourFront Terminal.
Several of them looked tired.
Food packs containing rice, fried chicken and vegetables and bottled water were prepared for the crew by an eatery at HarbourFront Terminal.
According to an employee at the eatery, they were instructed by the Singapore Cruise Centre to prepare food packets for the crew.
In an earlier statement on Friday, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore said that a core crew will remain onboard the anchored vessel to conduct safety checks, essential vessel operations and to support ongoing investigation.
Checks by AsiaOne on ship tracking platform VesselFinder at 9.30pm indicate that the vessel is still anchored south of Pulau Semakau.
As a chaperon turned up, both crew members whom AsiaOne spoke to returned to the group before boarding a chartered bus.
Responding to AsiaOne’s queries, a representative from World Cruises said that they are “deeply saddened” over the crew member’s passing, adding that they are in contact with the family to provide support.
While World Cruises did not say how it would assist crew members in relation to their uncertainties, the representative told AsiaOne that they are “cooperating fully” with the relevant authorities.
Additional reporting by Shafiq Apandi and Rauf Khan
[[nid:730146]]
