Tanker Rocked by Explosions in Hong Kong

Photo: Hong Kong Fire Department

One person has died and two others are missing after a tanker caught fire in Hong Kong waters off Lamma Island.

The fire on board the Vietnamese-flagged Aulac Fortune is believed to have started as crews were preparing for bunkering operations from a fuel oil barge.

Authorities said the fire started at around 11:30 a.m. local time when the vessel was rocked by three explosions. 

Seven crew members also suffered injuries, including one who was reported in serious condition, according to the South China Morning Post. One of the injured was a crew member of the oil barge.

The blaze was extinguished at around 4:30 p.m.

The tanker had a total of 25 crew members on board.

The Hong Kong Fire Department sent three fireboats, a diving support boat, two diving support speedboats, 20 fire trucks, 14 ambulances, and about 140 fire and ambulance personnel, the agency said in a Facebook post.

Photos showed the tanker with a severe list to starboard, but the vessel is not believed to be in danger of sinking.

The 144-meter Aulac Fortune had just offloaded an oil cargo in Dongguan, Guangdong province and had stopped to load fuel before it was scheduled to depart for Thailand when the incident occurred.

The Aulac Fortune was built in 2010 and has a deadweight of 17,542 tonnes.

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