Malaysian authorities today found bone fragments from two bodies on board a stricken Taiwanese oil tanker that was involved in a collision in the Malacca Strait earlier this week.

The MT Formosa Product Brick tanker caught fire and was seriously damaged Tuesday after a collision with a Greek-managed bulk carrier in the narrow shipping lane.

NONE Nine Chinese crew members remain unaccounted for.

"The search and rescue team found burnt bone fragments of two bodies on board the vessel," Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency Director First Admiral Tan Kok Kwee told AFP .

"The heat from the fire was so intense that this was all that remained of the two bodies," he added.

"The remains have been sent to the hospital to determine if the bodies are those of the Chinese crew members."

Search still on but hope dissipating

The accident happened off Port Dickson in Negeri Sembilan.

Tan said although search and rescue efforts were still ongoing for the missing crew members, authorities were not holding out much hope.

"There is always a chance of survival but if the fire does not get you, the heat will and if the heat doesn't, the deprivation of oxygen will," he said.

The tanker was carrying naphtha, a flammable liquid mixture of hydrocarbons distilled from petroleum, coal tar and natural gas. It is used as fuel, a solvent and in the making of some chemicals.

Police on Wednesday said 16 crew members were admitted to hospital in Port Dickson while the Greek-managed bulk carrier was ordered to dock for investigation.

At least 94,000 ships sail the narrow Malacca Strait each year, making it one of the busiest waterways in the world.

- AFP