Skip to content
The Mindanao Examiner Regional Newspaper

The Mindanao Examiner Regional Newspaper

Title

Name

Primary Menu
  • Home
  • Mindanao
  • Visayas
  • National
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Business
  • International
  • SciTech
  • Health & Wellness
  • Sports
  • About Us
    • Regional Advertising Rates
    • Contact Us
    • Profile
  • Home
  • International
  • One dead after oil tanker catches fire south of Hong Kong – CNN News
  • Featured
  • International

One dead after oil tanker catches fire south of Hong Kong – CNN News

Editor January 8, 2019

AT LEAST one person is dead and two missing after an oil tanker caught fire south of one of Hong Kong’s main islands.

The fire broke out aboard a vessel transporting kerosene near Lamma Island around 11:30 a.m. local time, a police spokeswoman told CNN.
Crew on board jumped into the water as the fire engulfed the ship, 23 of the 26 or so believed to be on board had now been rescued by marine police boats, the spokeswoman said. One dead body was also pulled out of the water.
A government spokesman said there were three fire boats deployed to tackle the blaze. As of Tuesday afternoon, the fire appeared to be largely extinguished, but the ship was listing severely.
Significant damage, including a large hole framed by metal twisted outward from the deck, could be seen on one side of the ship, appearing to confirm reports of an explosion prior to the fire.
Liquid could be seen pouring from the damaged area, but it was unclear whether this was fuel or simply water running off from the firefighting. There was no sign of significant oil build up on the water near the vessel.
Two crew members had been rushed to hospitals in central Hong Kong, the government spokesman said, one with a leg injury the other with burns.
The 11,000-ton, Vietnamese-flagged Aulac Fortune was en route to Hong Kong from the southern Chinese port of Dongguan, according to ship tracker Marine Traffic.
Residents of Lamma and nearby Lantau Island reported hearing a loud bang and hearing their windows and other furniture shake.
“My windows shook really badly but (there) was no wind,” Lamma resident Deb Lindsay said. “I thought there had been an earthquake!”
Lindsay said there were three bangs, an initial “really big one” followed by two smaller apparent explosions minutes later.
Tracy Lockwood, a Lamma resident, said she was teaching across the Lamma Channel in Aberdeen, on the southern part of Hong Kong island, and felt a “big wallop on the windows.”
“I thought it was just a weird big gust of wind but it must have been (the) explosion,” she added.
Parts of southern Lamma are a protected nesting site for green turtles, a highly endangered species. Lamma has also struggled in the past to deal with pollution and debris flowing onto beaches from the sea, and many residents expressed concern the tanker fire would see the island’s coast flooded with oil.
According to the International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation Limited (ITOPF), non-persistent oils, such as kerosene, “will dissipate rapidly through evaporation.” Despite this, the ITOPF notes that impacts from non-persistent oils may still include, at high concentrations, “acute toxicity to marine organisms.”
As well as the endangered green turtles, Hong Kong’s waters also host a critically endangered colony of white dolphins, already under pressure from pollution and land reclamation activity.
Hong Kong’s Environmental Protection Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.(By James Griffiths and Euan McKirdy, CNN)
Link: https://edition.cnn.com/2019/01/08/asia/hong-kong-lamma-oil-tanker-fire-intl/index.html
fb-share-icon
Tweet 20

Continue Reading

Previous: North Korea’s Kim Jong-un visits China’s Xi Jinping – BBC News
Next: Ex-Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn says he didn’t hide money – Al Jazeera

Related News

Hacker by Tima
  • International

South Korea’s largest telecom operator suffers mass exodus of customers over data leak

Editor June 2, 2025
Bountiful-harvest
  • Featured
  • Mindanao Post

Aquaponics to conservation: How a young farmer is growing change

Editor May 28, 2025
BLT-1
  • Business
  • Featured

Joy of Sharing: Jollibee Group Foundation Marks 20 Years of Impactful Partnerships and Progress

Editor May 22, 2025

Trending News

South Korea’s largest telecom operator suffers mass exodus of customers over data leak Hacker by Tima 1
  • International

South Korea’s largest telecom operator suffers mass exodus of customers over data leak

June 2, 2025
Northern Mindanao’s basic literacy rate hits 90.8% in 2024, above national average NMin-Literacy 2
  • Mindanao Post

Northern Mindanao’s basic literacy rate hits 90.8% in 2024, above national average

June 2, 2025
Davao Region’s economy shows resilience, eyes brighter 2025 dav-tourism 3
  • Mindanao Post

Davao Region’s economy shows resilience, eyes brighter 2025

June 2, 2025
BARMM lauds 8 Bangsamoro cultural masters in PUSAKA 2025 Cultural-tribute 4
  • Mindanao Post

BARMM lauds 8 Bangsamoro cultural masters in PUSAKA 2025

May 30, 2025
Manny Pacquiao Returns to Rewrite History – The Fight That Will Inspire a Nation Pacquiao 5
  • Sports

Manny Pacquiao Returns to Rewrite History – The Fight That Will Inspire a Nation

May 29, 2025
  • Facebook
  • X
  • YouTube
  • Blog
Copyright © 2025. The Mindanao Examiner Regional Newspaper. All Rights Reserved. | MoreNews by AF themes.