The Iron Parkgate was a bulk carrier vessel that caught fire during repair works at Jurong Shipyard on December 10th, 1974. The tragedy claimed 13 lives and left one critically injured, making it one of the deadliest incidents during Singapore's early industrialisation era. My aunt (Mak Cik), Maznah Binte Sulong (Awang Minyak), was aboard the Iron Parkgate when the fire broke out. This is her account, leading up to that fateful day.
Mak Cik was about 18 years old when she got her first job as a vessel tank cleaner at Jurong Shipyard in 1971, having been introduced to the position by a distant relative, fondly known as Mak Unggal Limah within the Ubin Orang Pulau community.
Mak Cik, along with a few other Ubin Orang Pulau who worked there, would leave Pulau Ubin at 4 a.m., ferried by Ahmed Tompel in his sampan from the jetty at the Pulau Ubin Mosque to Kuala Changi (Changi Creek). From there, a lorry would take them on a nearly two-hour journey to Jurong Shipyard in Tanjong Kling, with stops in Geylang and Tanjong Pagar to pick up other workers along the way.
It was a dirty job. Mak Cik had to scrub off sludge and waste oil residue from the vessel's thanks, a task that could take several days due to their immense size. Despite wearing four layers of clothing, the oil seeped through, leaving her smelling of it every time she returned home to Pulau Ubin at the end of the day.
Mak Cik was working on a separate vessel when the Iron Parkgate docked at Jurong Shipyard on December 3rd, 1974. She described it as a 'kapal kodong', recalling how the vessel entered the dock without a stern.
"Dia macam kapal kodong, sebab waktu kapal itu masuk, dia tak ada bontot".
It was only a few days later that Mak Cik and her colleagues began working on the Iron Parkgate. To access its tanks, Mak Cik had to descend twelve storeys using a vertical ladder from the deck. There were several doors on that level, each leading to an individual compartment of the tank. Each cleaner was assigned to one, usually only heading back up to the deck for lunch or at the end of their shift. As with all the previous vessels Mak Cik worked on, she cleared the sludge and cleaned the surfaces of the tank plating as usual—until December 10th.
Around 10.30 in the morning that day, Mak Cik noticed the temperature inside the compartment she was working in gradually rising. However, she did not give much thought to it until her supervisor, Harun, calmly and collectedly told her and the others to head back up.
Mak Cik was confused, as it was still too early for lunch. However, Harun was very persistent, so she headed out, only to find other workers rushing up the vertical ladders within the ship. It wasn't until she was halfway up the ladder that she learned that a fire had broken out in the engine room.
Once on deck, Mak Cik was greeted by the sight of thick black smoke and workers being evacuated from the ship. An ambulance and fire engine were already stationed at the dock. After the flames were extinguished, thirteen lives were lost and another was critically injured. Mak Cik and the other surviving workers were dismissed early that day.
Once home on Pulau Ubin, she shared her encounter with her family and counted their blessings. The next day, Mak Cik returned to work on another vessel, while investigations were launched to determine the cause of the Iron Parkgate fire. She later learned that it was caused by a spark from welding in the engine room.
According to the 1975 inquiry report, the fire was attributed to two possible causes: (i) 'considerable amount of sparks generated from overheard welding,' and (ii) 'ignition of the oil in the bilge by the hot welding electrode dropped' by one of the welders. Given the engine room's generally oily condition and poor ventilation, a fire could have quickly engulfed the space and trapped anyone inside.
Mak Cik continued working at Jurong Shipyard until 1976, when she became pregnant with her first child.
References:
Cowboy_Angel. (2008, April 23). Iron Parkgate. Ships Nostalgia. https://www.shipsnostalgia.com/media/iron-parkgate.62654/
National Archives Singapore [NAS]. (1975). Inquiry into the Fire on board “IRON PARKGATE” on 10th December 1974. In National Archives Singapore. https://www.nas.gov.sg/archivesonline/data/pdfdoc/PressR19741210a.pdf
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