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[cdn-nucl-l] " Tanker explodes, sinks off Virginia coast "



"green" ethanol not entirely risk-free.....

 Jaro
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^


http://www.canada.com/national/story.html?id=f29a37d8-8b26-4f7a-bf99-bdcc950
2513c
Tanker explodes, sinks off Virginia coast
Canadian Press, February 29, 2004
 
CHINCOTEAGUE, Va. (AP) - A tanker carrying industrial ethanol exploded and
sank about 80 kilometres off the Virginia coast Saturday night, the U.S.
coast guard said. 
At least two of the 27 crew members aboard were killed and rescue crews were
still searching for 19 others. 

Six crew members rescued were in critical condition, said Lieut. Chris
Shaffer of Ocean City (Md.) Emergency Services. 

The 174-metre tanker flying a Singapore flag made an emergency call just
after 6 p.m. EST, saying there had been an explosion on board, said Petty
Officer Stacey Pardini of the coast guard Atlantic area in Portsmouth, Va. 

The explosion occurred after a fire started on the deck of the ship, Shaffer
said. He said 19 people remained missing as of 9:45 p.m. 

Three helicopters, three coast guard boats and a C-130 plane were searching
for survivors. 

"When the rescue divers got on the scene the fuel tanker was on fire,
sinking and there was people in the water," Shaffer said. 

He said the six people the coast guard recovered were taken to Norfolk
Sentara General Hospital and were in critical condition. 

Pardini said those rescued were taken to hospitals in Maryland and Virginia.
Betty Turner, a nursing supervisor at Pennisula Regional Medical Center in
Salisbury, Md., said her hospital had been notified about the accident but
had not received any crew members by about 9:45 p.m. 

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