Asia/Pacific News
Japanese Fuel Tanker Explodes
The captain of a Japanese fuel tanker is missing and four crew members are severely injured after the ship exploded off the coast of Hyogo Prefecture in western Japan Thursday morning, news site Mainichi reports.
The Shoko Maru had unloaded about 2,000 kiloliters of heavy fuel oil (HFO) at a power station on May 23, the vessel's owner Syoho Shipping Co., said, and it was not carrying oil when the accident occurred.
The Fire and Disaster Management Agency found that the fire started when a crew member used a machine tool to remove rust from an oil storage tank.
The ship's captain, Masaichi Ando, is missing, and boatswain Yoshimichi Ogata was listed in critical condition.
"I heard a bang around 9:30 a.m. and felt jolts," an official at the Himeji Port control office told JiJi Press.
"Looking through binoculars, I saw a cloud of smoke rising from the lopsided tanker."
Seven crew members were rescued from the ship altogether, with four of them taken to the hospital for serious injuries while the other three were unhurt.
