5 dead, 6 missing in tanker explosion

By Kim Tae-jong

An explosion on an oil tanker in the West Sea, Sunday, killed five crew members and left six others missing, the Coast Guard said.

The 4,191-ton Doola No. 3 was in waters 4.8 kilometers north of Jawol Island near the port city of Incheon when the blast occurred at around 8:05 a.m.

A total of 11 Korean and five Myanmarese crewmen were aboard but only five people were rescued, according to the Coast Guard.

The exact cause of the explosion has not yet been confirmed but officials from the freight’s operating firm suspect it happened during the process of emptying gas from the oil tank.

“We suspect the explosion may have occurred while crewmen were trying to remove the remaining gas in a storage tank. The vessel usually transports diesel, but this time it carried gasoline,” an official from Doola Shipping said.

Those in the cabin and engine room seemed to have avoided injuries from the explosion but crewmen on the deck seemed to have been directly hit, he said.

After leaving Incheon, the ship was heading to Daesan in South Chungcheong Province, carrying 80-tons of bunker-C oil and 40 tons of diesel.

The Coast Guard immediately dispatched patrol and rescue ships to search for the missing crew and also took emergency measures to stop the ship from sinking and the remaining oil from spilling into the sea.

The ship was cut in half with its bow almost submerged, but no oil spill was detected, the Coast Guard said.

As a precaution, inflatable oil booms were placed around the wreck, and an operation was conducted to seal tanks. They have also considered salvaging the hull with barges before it completely sinks.

e3dward@koreatimes.co.kr