Not a Good Week For the Shipping Business
A MERCHANT FREIGHTER THAT CARRIES PETROLEUM products had a hull-breaking explosion Sunday morning off the coast of South Korea.
Korea Coast Guard photo via Reuters
The ship had just left the port at Incheon when it blew up. It is believed that five of the 16-man crew were killed and perhaps six more are missing.
Doola Shipping, which operates the ship, said the explosion seems to have taken place while gas was being drained from the oil tank. "The vessel usually transports diesel, but this time it carried gasoline. We are now examining whether it had any relation to the explosion," a company official said.
Korea Coast Guard photo via Reuters
The explosion was not caused by any external shock, Coast Guard officials said, adding it suddenly occurred when some crew members were cleaning the oil tank on the deck. They will request a forensic test for the case, the officials said.
Apparently the gasoline had been offloaded at Incheon and it was the vapors in the tank that exploded. There was no product leaked into the sea as a result of the accident. An investigation is open to determine what happened.
Euro News posted this raw video showing a closeup view of the ship from sea level:
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