By Glazyl Masculino
BACOLOD CITY - Thick smoke covered a portion of the Millennium Uno roll-on, roll-off (Roro) vessel after its engine room was reportedly caught fire while the vessel was docked at the Bacolod Real Estate Development Corp. (Bredco) port here Friday, September 27.
Lt. Rockcliff Buling, head of Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) - Negros Occidental, said the fire broke out around 3:45 p.m. while one of the crew members was about to start the vessel's engine.
"Initially, nagkaroon ng faulty electrical wiring ang panel board kaya nag spark," he said.
"The firefighters had difficulty penetrating the room at first because of thick smoke but they were able to overcome it," Buling said.
No passengers was on board the vessel when it happened and all its 30 crew members were accounted with no injuries.
The fire was put out after 20 minutes. The blaze did not cause damage on the whole vessel.