Oil tanker explosion filmed by sailors near Malaysia coast

The MT Pablo reportedly had no oil on board when it caught fire on Monday

The tanker MT Pablo after the vessel caught fire off Malaysia's southern coast. AFP

Footage uploaded to Twitter by maritime analysis firm Tanker Trackers shows the moment the fuel tanker MT Pablo exploded off the coast of southern Malaysia.

The explosion, filmed from the deck of the Panama-flagged supertanker Enola, shows large parts of the vessel fly through the air before crashing into the sea below.

“What kind of boat was that?” one of the sailors can be heard saying in Russian. “We better notify someone immediately,” another adds.

According to The Straits Times, the Enola went on to rescue 18 sailors who had abandoned the blazing tanker before the blast. Three remain missing.

Other crew members were rescued by Malaysia Maritime Enforcement.

Syahrul bin Hamzah of Malaysia Maritime Enforcement told Bloomberg that the wreckage of the ship was still smoking on Tuesday afternoon.

The Gabon-registered tanker was an Aframax class, meaning it can carry up to 700,000 barrels of oil when full. But the ship was reportedly empty of oil when it caught fire and no significant spill was reported.