A 485-foot chemical tanker is adrift several hundred miles off the coast of Oregon following an engine room fire that reportedly killed one crewmember.
A statement late Friday from the U.S. Coast Guard said air and cutter forces continue to assist the 22-person crew of a Bahamian-flagged tanker that has been disabled since Wednesday when a fire broke out in the main engine room of the vessel while underway about 700 miles west of Cape Blanco, Oregon. The fire was extinguished using installed firefighting systems, however, the ship sustained damage to its generators, leaving the crew with only minimal battery power and without propulsion.
A Coast Guard aircrew aboard an HC-130 Hercules from Air Station Sacramento, California, delivered two satellite telephones and a VHF-FM radio to the tanker on Thursday, the Coast Guard said, and the crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Stratton, a 418-foot National Security Cutter homeported in Alameda, California, is on scene to provide assistance.
One crewmember was reported as deceased as a result of the casualty, the Coast Guard said.
In addition to the Coast Guard assets, vessels registered with the Automated Mutual-Assistance Vessel Rescue System, or AMVER for short, were diverted to the scene and have been providing ongoing visual assessments of the vessel’s condition.
The Coast Guard said the vessel’s owner has contracted the commercial tugboat Millennium Falcon, based in Anacortes, Washington, to respond to the incident. The tugboat is expected to arrive at the tanker’s location in about three days with a damage control specialist.
The Coast Guard statement did not provide the name of the tanker, or the identity of the owner. From the video, it appears that the tanker belongs to Tokyo Marine Asia and could be the MT Pine Galaxy, which is the only Bahamas-flagged vessel listed on the company’s fleet list.
A report from the Associated Press said that the tanker left Los Angeles on August 9 bound for South Korea with a cargo of propylene tetramer, but added that the ship’s cargo area was not damaged in the fire.
“The AMVER vessels involved were instrumental in providing check-ins with the disabled vessel and providing updates to rescue personnel about the condition of the crew and vessel’s position,” said Lt. Ryan Beck, command duty officer at the 13th District Rescue Coordination Center. “AMVER vessels are an invaluable high-seas resource for rescue coordinators.”
MEXICO CITY, April 7 (Reuters) – At least one contractor was killed after a fire struck an offshore platform operated by Mexico’s national oil company Pemex, the firm said in a statement on Sunday,...
By Andrew Osborn and Maxim Rodionov Jan 21 (Reuters) – Russian energy company Novatek NVTK.MM said on Sunday it had been forced to suspend some operations at a huge Baltic Sea fuel export terminal due...
gCaptain Editors Note – Sevmorput is one of only four nuclear merchant ships ever built. The other three – built by the US, Japan and Germany – are no longer...
December 25, 2023
Total Views: 49087
Why Join the gCaptain Club?
Access exclusive insights, engage in vibrant discussions, and gain perspectives from our CEO.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.