At Least 3 Killed in Tanker Explosion Off Virginia Coast
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS



PORTSMOUTH, Va. (AP) -- The Coast Guard continued searching the frigid
Atlantic early Sunday for survivors of an explosion that sank a tanker
carrying 3.5 million gallons of ethanol. At least three of the 27 crew
members died and 18 are still missing.

The six men rescued were found in a life raft, said Petty Officer Stacey
Pardini of the Atlantic area Coast Guard in Portsmouth said.

``We're still in search mode,'' Pardini said. ``We still have hope that
we will find survivors.''

The 570-foot Bow Mariner, with its 24 Filipino and three Greek crew
members, was headed to Houston from New York when it called just after 6
p.m. that there had been an explosion, Pardini said.

The explosion, about 50 miles east of Chincoteague, Va., came after a
fire started on the deck of the ship, said Lt. Chris Shaffer of Ocean
City (Md.) Emergency Services.

``When the rescue divers got on the scene the fuel tanker was on fire,
sinking and there was people in the water,'' he said.

The Coast Guard responded by sending two helicopters and a search plane
from Elizabeth City, N.C., a helicopter from Atlantic City, N.J., and
three boats. Fishing boats in the area also assisted in the search and
rescue mission.

Overnight, the plane and two 87-foot Coast Guard patrol boats kept up
the search, though Pardini acknowledged it would be difficult for
someone to survive in the 44-degree water temperature.

All of the six men rescued are being treated for hypothermia. They were
taken by helicopter to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, where one was
in critical condition, two were in serious condition and three were in
good condition, hospital spokeswoman Vicky Gray said.

Two Coast Guard members brought to the hospital as a precaution were in
good condition, Gray said. One was a rescue swimmer, the other a flight
mechanic for a helicopter.

One of the nine crew members accounted for had been picked up by a
commercial fishing boat but died before he could be taken to a hospital,
said Coast Guard Senior Chief John Moss.

Another man died at Peninsula Regional Medical Center in Salisbury, Md.,
after he was brought there in critical condition, nursing supervisor
Betty Turner said.

The third victim was taken to Atlantic General Hospital in Berlin, Md.,
spokeswoman Toni Keiser said, along with two rescue divers who were
treated and released for minor injuries.

In Norfolk, hospital chaplains helped four of the crew members call
their families in Philippines.

The ship is a chemical tanker, built in 1982 and operated by Ceres
Hellenic Shipping Enterprises Ltd. in Greece.

It had discharged some of its cargo in New York, said company
spokesmanTony Redding. Ceres was sending a technical crew from Greece on
Sunday to assist the Coast Guard, he said.

It was unknown how much of the ethanol was released into the water.

Redding said Ceres didn't know the cause of the explosion; the Coast
Guard said it was not immediately clear what agency would investigate
the accident because it happened in international waters.

Copyright 2004 The Associated Press