Vessel owner pays respects to fallen firefighter, calls him a hero
“We will not forget this hero,” Mr Qin Zhi Feng said of Captain Kenneth Tay Xue Qin, who died on May 16 after fighting a fire onboard a marine vessel.
Mr Qin, 47, is the owner of the China-flagged tanker anchored in Singapore waters.
At the wake of the 30-year-old rota commander on May 18, he told Shin Min Daily News that he had immediately booked a flight from Shanghai to Singapore when he received news of the incident.
CPT Tay was moving around the smoke-logged engine room with a thermal imager to detect hot spots within the room while the firefighter he was working with directed a water jet towards the source of the fire.
Another team of firefighters that later entered the room to support the firefighting operations found the Regular Officer lying at the bottom of a staircase that was about 4m high.
Mr Qin, who paid his respects to Captain Tay, said his company plans to assist the family.
He added that he was aware the deceased was the only child in the family, yet both his parents and girlfriend were magnanimous and did not blame anyone for his death.
“Our company has the social responsibility to do right, and we will definitely assist the family in whatever way we can," said Mr Qin.
"We are also very grateful that our crew was rescued."
The SCDF will hold a ceremonial funeral for CPT Tay on May 20.
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