Oil freighter explodes near port of Incheon, kills 5

An oil freighter exploded Sunday in waters off the port of Incheon, killing five crew members and leaving six others missing. Five of the 16 crew members were rescued.

The vessel had been on its way back to the port of Daesan after unloading gasoline at Incheon. An oil tank installed on the deck of the 4,191-ton oil freighter Doola No. 3 based in Busan exploded during cleaning work in waters six kilometers northwest of Jawol Island, Ongjin County, off Incheon around 8:05 a.m. Sunday.

After the accident, the Korea Coast Guard’s Incheon headquarters and the Navy urgently deployed 30 patrol and speed boasts and two choppers to the scene, and conducted search operations to find missing crewmen. Bunker C oil and diesel fuel amounting to 126 tons in the vessel were transferred to other vessels, and an oil fence was installed to prevent oil leaks from the vessel, which sank after splitting into two due to the explosion.

○ Vessel split into two after explosion

The Doola 3 transported 6,500 tons of gasoline from the port of Daesan in South Chungcheong Province and unloaded the shipment at SK Pier in Incheon before departing for Daesan at around 6:30 a.m. Sunday. The accident happened when the vessel was passing by Jawol Island about an hour later, when 11 crewmen started cleaning the oil tank at the instruction of the ship’s captain.

Five survivors told maritime police aboard a patrol boat from the Incheon headquarters that the oil tanker exploded with a bang and that the vessel shook severely. The explosion was so powerful that the glass inside the pilothouse was shattered. The survivors avoided danger because they were working at the pilothouse, or staying in the engine room or bedroom. But the others fell into the sea or were killed being squeezed into facilities due to the explosion, as they were working at the tank or staying on deck to assist cleaning. In the wake of the tank’s explosion, the bow of the vessel was hoisted and caused the ship to split into two.

The captain said, “The explosion occurred 20-30 minutes after cleaning started following departure from the port of Incheon, and I mistakenly thought that (North Korea) resumed shelling on Yeonpyeong Island,” adding, “We didn`t have facilities or work that could have caused the explosion around the cleaning site when the accident happened.”

○ Vaporized oil suspected as cause

After the accident, a source at Doola Shipping, the owner of the Doola 3, said, “The accident seems to have occurred in the course of gas free work meant to release gas (vaporized fuel) left in the oil tank,” adding, “The Doola 3 carries diesel fuel in ordinary times but carried gasoline this time, and we`re checking if the accident was related to this.”

The source apparently mentioned the possibility that the accident occurred as crewmen were trying to remove a mixture of residue of diesel fuel, which was carried in ordinary times, and gas remaining in the tank. The Korea Coast Guard also blamed this reason for causing the explosion.

Kim Seong-hoon, captain of a patrol boat dispatched by the Incheon headquarters to conduct a rescue mission at the accident site, said, “Considering that the oil tank completely disappeared and the vessel was split into two, a large volume of combustible materials such as highly explosive gasoline residue or gas is believed to have remained in the tank to cause the explosion.”

Maritime police are also investigating if the crew failed to follow safety rules while cleaning the tank. Under law, the owner of a vessel carrying dangerous freight, namely liquid cargo, must deploy crewmen licensed to handle dangerous materials or who have had training.

kchwang@donga.com run-juno@donga.com