Fire Onboard Gulf of Mexico Oil Tanker Containing 150,000 Barrels
A Pemex oil tanker containing 150,000 barrels of oil products has became engulfed in flames in the Gulf of Mexico.
Mexicos Navy stated that all 31 crew members on board the vessel were safely evacuated after the fire resulted. The ship was evacuated and left in the hands of fire fighters.
Pemex – Mexicos state oil company who owns the ‘Burgos’ vessel stated that all crew were now safe.
The tanker was carrying 80,000 barrels of diesel and 70,000 barrels of gasoline, Mexico´s Communications and Transport Ministry said.
Pemex spokesman Israel de la Pena told reporters that the fire was put out late Sunday, but about 100 emergency relief workers were still monitoring the boat.
Earlier, navy firefighting official Antonio Chedraui had said there was fire on the water, “a sign that the fuel is leaking.” But Pemex CEO Jose Antonio Anaya denied there had been any environmental damage.
The ship “has a double hull that prevents the fuel it carries from being spilled,” Anaya told a press conference in Anaya.
He said environmental authorities found no spills in the Gulf of Mexico.
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About 70,000 liters of foaming liquid were deployed and 3,200 meters (10,500 feet) of containment barrier were prepared in case fuel had spilled into the sea, according to Anaya.
It was not immediately clear what caused the fire.
Chedraui had said it took four hours to get special fire-retardant foam to the site of the fire, and Pemex was also slow in setting up floating containment barriers to prevent the spill from spreading.
