Prem Divya: unladen tanker explodes at Fujairah

There were three blasts, December 29, - boom, boom, boom - so the people were in panic. The tanker PREM DIVYA IMO 9138599, had arrived in Fujairah on December 27 for 10 days of "operational care". Workers from local firms had come to check the pipes and do welding in the engine room and other repairs and maintenance.

Ships must receive gas-free approvals before commencing any "hot work", or activities that could start a fire, such as welding, Capt Morad said. "We already got that, so what went wrong, we don't know. Any tanker that has gas in it should be made free of gas before any welding or hot work takes place."

Soon after the explosion late on Thursday afternoon many of the men on board leapt into the water. Neighbouring ships and the coastguard arrived to help them to safety, and the port authorities sent a crew to put out the fire. Empty oil tankers are susceptible to having residual flammable gas on board - even more so than on full tankers, where the gas has less area in which to expand. read
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Kythira: Melissanidis bunkering tanker escapes

Kerkyra


Mr. Dimitris Melissanidis, Aegean's Founder and Head of Corporate Development, rings the bell at the New York Stock Exchange marking the Company's one year anniversary listing.
SX-DGM, Embraer Legacy 600, Aegean Oil


KYTHIRA, bunkering tanker, based at Fujairah U.A.E. was more than 1,100 nautical miles (2,000 kilometres) East of Eyl, on the Somali coast when it encountered one attack skiff, which fired weapons and attempted to board the vessel twice on 30 November 2010. However, it increased speed and evaded the skiff

9417543 KYTHIRA Chemical/Oil Tanker 5500 2009 Liberia Aegean Bunkering Services

M.Star: U.S. officials are watching the situation closely

Mitsui releases photos of explosion damage

“We have no information the tanker was attacked,” said State Department spokesman Philip J. Crowley... The U.S. will continue to monitor developments, Crowley said. An explosion, which “may have been caused by an external attack,” occurred at 5:30 a.m. Tokyo time, injuring one of the crew, Mitsui said in a statement. The vessel, M. Star, was on its way to Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates to assess the damage and no oil is leaking, earlier