Two sailors of Navy vessel BRP Ramon Alcaraz were injured after the ship’s engine room caught fire hours after departing the port of Cochin, India.

According to Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, the fire transpired in the main engine room last May 9 but the response team was able to put out the fire in ten minutes.

“Luckily, the damage sustained was a minor one and the ship was able to sail into Cochin under its own power and unassisted,” Lorenzana said.

“Two sailors sustained first-degree burns,” he said.

Lorenzana said one of the two sailors, who were injured in the fire, is now receiving treatment in an Indian medical facility, while the other is in sickbay aboard the vessel.

“Since the BRP Alcaraz was acquired from the US, the US Navy’s Naval Systems Command (NAVSEA) will assist in the conduct of its repairs,” the defense chief said.

“We will also use existing diplomatic mechanisms and our defense cooperation agreement with India to facilitate and expedite work on the ship so that it can return to the country in the shortest time possible,” he added.

The BRP Ramon Alcaraz together with BRP Davao Del Sur were initially deployed to Middle East before they went to India last April 29 to receive the donated face masks and assist stranded Filipino tourists.

The two vessels left India last May 7 ferrying home 200,000 pieces of donated face masks for the government's fight against coronavirus disease and 18 Filipino tourist repatriates who were stranded in India due to the pandemic. Ella Dionisio/DMS