Indonesia shipyard closed after workers clash with managers

BATAM, Indonesia, April 22 (Reuters) - Angry Indonesian dock workers set fire to three buildings and torched 12 vehicles on Thursday at a shipyard on Batam island, near Singapore, after an argument with Indian managers, police said on Thursday.

One person was taken to hospital following the incident and the yard temporarily closed, the company said in a statement.

"It started when an Indian manager yelled something rude to an Indonesian worker," said an Indonesian police spokesman, Zainuri Lubis.

"Word spread, and in the end about 5,000 angry workers got together and got violent."

The incident happened at PT Drydocks World Graha, owned by Drydocks World Southeast Asia, a unit of conglomerate Dubai World. [DBWLD.UL]

Denis Welch, chief executive of Drydocks World Southeast Asia, was in Batam and leading an investigation, the company said in its statement.

Police spokesman Lubis said the situation was under control and officers had deployed around the facility to prevent further violence.

Drydocks World, the shipyard business of conglomerate Dubai World, has one yard in Singapore and three on the nearby Indonesian island of Batam.

The Batam yards employ around 20,000 workers. (Additional reporting by Harry Suhartono; Editing by David Fox)