Tuesday, March 2, 2004 · Last updated 5:35 p.m. PT
Tanker that exploded, sank found off Va.
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This is a United States Coast Guard photo of a Coast Guard patrol boat as it passes by the fire charred remains of a life boat from the sunken tanker Bow Mariner off the coast of Virginia, Sunday Feb. 29, 2004. The 570-foot tanker exploded and sank 50 miles off the coast of Chincoteague Virginia Saturday evening. Three crewmembers were killed and six resuced 18 others are missing. The Coast Guard have called off the search for the remaining crew. (AP Photo/U.S. Coast Guard, ho) |
NORFOLK, Va. -- A tanker carrying industrial ethanol that exploded and sank off the Virginia coast was found Tuesday 250 feet underwater at the bottom of the Atlantic, the Coast Guard said.
Six people survived the accident Saturday evening and three are known dead. The other 18 crewmen remain missing. The final survivor was released from a hospital Tuesday.
The tanker was located by a sonar-equipped vessel belonging to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said NOAA spokesman David Miller.
The 90-foot vessel can take pictures of the tanker, but was unable to determine Tuesday whether the 570-foot Bow Mariner is intact or in pieces, vessel commander Tod Schattgen said.
"We got one good scan that enabled us to determine which way the ship is lying and its orientation," Schattgen said.
Finding the Singapore-flagged tanker was important as the Coast Guard tries to determine the cause of the explosion aboard the tanker 50 miles off the Eastern Shore of Virginia.
The Coast Guard on Tuesday revised its figure on the amount of ethanol the Bow Mariner was carrying downward from 3.5 million gallons to 3.2 million. Ethanol is a highly flammable, colorless alcohol used in manufacturing.
The NOAA vessel can provide data as to where the petroleum underwater would be likely to go, Miller said.
Source: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apus_story.asp?category=1110&slug=Tanker%20Found&searchdiff=4&searchpagefrom=1 (March 6, 2004)
Comment: Are the eighteen missing crew-persons drowned or did they get to shore?