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Aframax tanker on fire at Houston

Fire broke out onboard an aframax tanker berthed in the Deer Park area of the Houston Ship Channel early on Tuesday morning.

Firefighters attended Hellenic Tankers’ Aframax River, which is berthed at the Intercontinental Terminals Company facility, at around 02:00hrs (local time) and extinguished the blaze successfully. The vessel’s 25 crew were evacuated.

The US Coast Guard said the tanker had somehow developed a gash, which caused it to leak an unknown volume of fuel, which later ignited, according to reports from ABC13. 

The tanker is thought to have hit a submerged sewer line, which caused the rupture, the US Coast Guard told press.

A small section of the Houston Ship Channel was shut down as a precaution to keep other ships from tracking the fuel throughout the channel.

Holly Birkett

Holly is Splash's Online Editor and correspondent for the UK and Mediterranean. She has been a maritime journalist since 2010, and has written for and edited several trade publications. She is currently studying for membership of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers. In 2013, Holly won the Seahorse Club's Social Media Journalist of the Year award. She is currently based in London.
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