[craditc]

JOHOR BARU: A fire broke out on board Royal Malaysian Navy ship KD Mutiara, fuelling speculation it started from sparks while some welding works were being carried out.

Initial investigations showed that several workers had been carrying out the welding work in the central part of the vessel, which has been undergoing maintenance since the end of last year.

Sources said shipyard workers tried to put out the blaze but were forced to call in the Fire and Rescue Department after the fire started spreading in the 7pm incident on Thursday.

State Fire and Rescue Department assistant director of operations Hamid Suari said at least six vehicles and about 60 firefighters were despatched to the scene and brought the fire under control by 8.18pm.

"There were not much flames but a lot of smoke had engulfed the ship. We used foam to douse the fire," he said, adding the blaze was completely put out at about 3am yesterday.

The naval ship, which was docked at a shipyard in Pasir Gudang, was built in Penang at the Hong Leong Lurssen Dockyard. It was commissioned in December 1977.

The vessel is one of the two ships under the navy's National Hydrographic Centre and fitted with state-of-the-art hydrographic and oceanographic surveying system, complemented by four surveying boats and two working boats.

The KD Mutiara has an impeccable record of successful hydrographic surveys. Losses may run into millions of ringgit.