Three seafarers are missing, while 13 others have been rescued after their tanker Xing Long Zhou 569 exploded on Sunday in the East China Sea, Xinhua cited Shandong Province officials.
The province’s Maritime and Rescue authority sent a number of units to assist in the search and rescue efforts, which are still underway. The first teams which arrived at the site rescued 13 crewmen, out of the total of 16 seafarers who were aboard the vessel at the time of the explosion.
Following the explosion, a fire continued burning aboard the 2012-built tanker, which was some 90 nautical miles south of Shidao Island in the Shandong Province when the incident occurred.
Xinhua further informed that officials managed to bring the fire under control and that relevant authorities launched an investigation into the incident.
Subsequently, the 6,678 dwt tanker was towed to China’s port of Shidao.
The cause of the explosion is still unknown.
World Maritime News Staff