TANKER EXPLODES WITH 27 PEOPLE ON BOARD PORTSMOUTH, Va. – Coast Guard is searching for survivors after a 570-foot tanker carrying industrial ethanol exploded and sank 50 miles off Chincoteague, Va., today. The Bow Mariner with 27 people on board radioed the Coast Guard shortly after 6 p.m. to report the explosion. Eight crewmembers are accounted for – six survivors and two dead. Coast Guard aircrews operating a C-130 airplane, two HH-60 helicopters, and an HH-65 helicopter are actively engaged in the rescue. A 47-foot motor lifeboat is on scene while two Coast Guard patrol boats are en route. An HH-60 is en route to Norfolk Sentara Hospital with six people who were recovered from the water. The Singapore-flagged vessel was transiting from New York to Houston with 24 Pilipino and three Greek crewmembers. TANKER EXPLODES WITH 27 PEOPLE ON BOARD PORTSMOUTH, Va. – Coast Guard is searching for survivors after a 570-foot tanker carrying industrial ethanol exploded and sank 50 miles off Chincoteague, Va., today. The Bow Mariner with 27 people on board radioed the Coast Guard shortly after 6 p.m. to report the explosion. Eight crewmembers are accounted for – six survivors and two dead. Coast Guard aircrews operating a C-130 airplane, two HH-60 helicopters, and an HH-65 helicopter are actively engaged in the rescue. A 47-foot motor lifeboat is on scene while two Coast Guard patrol boats are en route. An HH-60 is en route to Norfolk Sentara Hospital with six people who were recovered from the water. The Singapore-flagged vessel was transiting from New York to Houston with 24 Pilipino and three Greek crewmembers.
