Tanker sailing from HK on fire in South Korean waters

Tanker sailing from HK on fire in South Korean waters
8 May 2018 http://www.thestandard.com.hk/breaking-news.php?id=106966&sid=6

A Panama-registered oil tanker that left Hong Kong for South Korea caught fire in waters off the southern coast, authorities said today.

The accident happened at around 9:10 a.m local time when a 7,700-ton vessel carrying 21 crewmen caught fire while making a passage in waters about 33 kilometers south of an island of Tongyeong, about 340 km south of Seoul.

The fire started in one of the empty tanks, and the crewmen put out the fire in about 20 minutes using extinguishers. No one was hurt in the accident.

The ship, bound for the South Korean coastal city of Ulsan in the southeast from Hong Kong, was carrying some 4,700 tons of highly flammable Mix-Xylene. The tanker is currently on its way to the Busan Port.