Greater ChinaTankers

Sinopec chemical tanker explodes on Yangtze River, one missing

Chemical tanker Chuan Wei 5 suffered an explosion onboard while on the Yangtze River on Friday night.

The incident happened when the vessel was anchoring near Yizheng, Jiangsu. Nanjing Maritime Safety Administration deployed two firefighting vessels, three tugboats, and two oil spill response vessels to the scene and managed to put out the fire within a few hours. Most of the crew onboard were evacuated safely, however one crew member remains missing following the incident.

According to the administration, the vessel’s tank was empty when the incident happened and no oil spill has been detected near the vessel.

Search and rescue operations for the crew continue and authorities have started investigations into cause of the incident.

The vessel is operated by Chongqing Chuanwei Logistics, the chemical logistics unit of Sinopec Chongqing SVW Chemical.

Jason Jiang

Jason is one of the most prolific writers on the diverse China shipping & logistics industry and his access to the major maritime players with business in China has proved an invaluable source of exclusives. Having been working at Asia Shipping Media since inception, Jason is the chief correspondent of Splash and associate editor of Maritime CEO magazine. Previously he had written for a host of titles including Supply Chain Asia, Cargo Facts and Air Cargo Week.
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