[Source: Reuters]

Two oil tankers have caught fire about 55 km northeast of the Singaporean island of Pedra Branca, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) said on Friday.

The MPA was alerted to a fire on Friday at 6:15 a.m. onboard both a Singapore-flagged tanker, Hafnia Nile, and a Sao Tome and Principe-flagged tanker, Ceres 1, it said in a statement.

The port authority has requested passing vessels to assist in the search and rescue of the crew, while a Singapore Navy ship and air force helicopter are assisting.

Panamax tanker Hafnia Nile was carrying naphtha, according to ship-tracking data from Kpler and LSEG.

It was not immediately clear what fuel Ceres 1 (IMO 9229439) was carrying. The tanker is a very-large-crude-carrier (VLCC) and was last marked as carrying Iranian crude between March to April, ship-tracking data showed.