The oil tanker, which was involved in a collision with a cargo ship late yesterday in the Strait of Malacca - leaving nine crewmen missing - was carrying 58,000 tonnes of naphtha.

Oil traders said on today the Cargill-chartered tanker, Formosaproduct Brick, was shipping the naphtha cargo from the United Arab Emirates to Daesan and Yosu in South Korea.

The origin of the naphtha was likely from Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (Adnoc), with whom US trading firm Cargill has a term contract to lift around 100,000 tonnes for an unspecified period, traders added.

The official from the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) said there was no danger of oil spill from the Liberian-registered tanker with 25 crew, which was on fire hours after

the collision with the Ostende Max, a British-registered bulk carrier.

But shipping in the busy waterway was not disrupted, he added.

However, a Reuters cameraman near the scene said the fire appeared to have been put out and the tanker did not seem to be listing or at risk of sinking.

Traders said the naphtha was slated to be supplied to South Korean end users - Honam Petrochemical, LG Chem and Yeochun Naphtha Cracking Centre (YNCC).

"The barrels were meant to arrive in South Korea in second-half August, but I doubt there will be any major impact. Inventory is not that low (in South Korea)," said a Northeast Asian trader.

No disruption to international shipping

Asian naphtha supplies were tight after Europe choked off exports on refinery run cuts, and strong demand for the light fuels for petrochemical and gasoline production.

The collision occurred at 10pm in international waters at the Malacca Straits bordering Malaysia and Indonesia, the MMEA official said.

"We have towed the tanker to the edge of international shipping lines 18 nautical miles (33 kilometres) offshore from Port Dickson and alerted all vessels in the area, so there is no disruption or delays to shipping in the Straits," said the official.

An MMEA spokeswoman later said the cargo ship was empty when it sailed from Port Dickson for Singapore at the time of the collision and the slightly damaged bulk carrier has been directed to return to Port Dickson for investigations.

There was still no sign of the missing crewmen, she added.

- Bernama