Dubai Creek fire put out; 17 crew safe

The huge pall of smoke that had hung over Dubai Creek on Sunday afternoon has dissipated as civil defence teams brought the blaze on one of the launches [country craft] under control before midnight set in. It took them more than seven hours to battle the raging blaze.

However, the captain of the ship, Feroz Razzak, and his crew have not yet been allowed onto the vessel, ‘Bhakti Sagar’, by the police and civil defence officials.

 "I suppose they are carrying out their investigations as to what caused the fire,"

Razzak told Emirates 24|7. "As far as I know the launch was not loaded and had nothing that could have caused the blaze.

"I am waiting to be allowed on board so I can inspect for myself what caused the fire," he said.

Feroz Razzak said the 17 member crew is safe and has been relocated to other vessels owned by the group.

"They are all okay and were taken off the boat safely."

He said the UAE-flagged launch used to do a regular run between Dubai and Jamnagar in the Indian state of Gujarat.

"At this time it was empty waiting for cargo. The stuff that got burnt was stuff that was stocked on the jetty. There was no cargo on my boat," said Razzak.

Another launch belonging to the same group had caught fire in February.

"We had lost 60 per cent of the cargo on that boat," said Razzak.

On February 17 afternoon, explosions were heard from the Creek, from the blaze that had started on one of the boats the previous day.

It was reported that a boat involved in the incident was said loaded with cars and petroleum products.

Earlier story

A huge pall of smoke was hanging over Deira, Dubai yesterday evening, the result of yet another fire on a boat.

The name of the vessel is reported to be Bhakti Sagar, which has a 1,800 tonne capacity.

Speaking to Emirates 24|7 the captain of the vessel, Feroz Razzak, said the boat had 17 crew members, all of whom have been evacuated safely.

"I do not know how the fire started. Yes, it is the second boat from our group that has caught fire on the Creek. Another boat had caught fire some two months ago.

"I have been called to give a statement to the Dubai Police at the Creek side," Razzak told this website over the phone.

"No one has been hurt in the fire and work is on to put it out," Razzak said.

Police sirens could be heard as the website's readers phoned in to report the fire.

Traffic slowed down on both sides of the Creek as rubber-neckers tried to get a glimpse of the incident.

On February 17, explosions were heard from the Creek at around 6pm from a blaze that had started on a boat the previous day.

One of the boats involved in the incident was said to have been loaded with cars and petroleum products.

Click here to read: Dubai Creek fire refuses to die down after explosions from oil products on boat

Click here to read: One confirmed killed in dhow fire on Dubai creek

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