Tanker Fire off Oregon Coast, Aug. 18

Coast Guard air and cutter forces continue to assist the 22-person crew of a 485-foot, Bahamian-flagged chemical tanker after a fire in the main engine room disabled the vessel, leaving it without propulsion, about 700 miles west of Cape Blanco, Oregon, Wednesday, Aug. 13. The fire was extinguished using an installed firefighting system, however, the ship sustained damage to its generators, leaving the crew with minimal battery power. A Coast Guard aircrew, aboard an HC-130 Hercules airplane from Air Station Sacramento, California, delivered two iridium telephones and a VHF-FM radio to the ship, Thursday. The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Stratton, a 418-foot National Security Cutter homeported in Alameda, California, was first on the scene to provide assistance, including engineering and damage control equipment. One crewmember aboard the tanker was reported as deceased as a result of the marine casualty. Coast Guard watchstanders at the 13th District Rescue Coordination Center, in Seattle, used the Automated Mutual-Assistance Vessel Rescue System to contact nearby vessels. AMVER vessels have been providing ongoing visual assessments of the vessel’s condition. The vessel’s ownership has contracted the commercial tugboat Millennium Falcon, based in Anacortes, WA.