A fire in the cargo tanks of the Mexican-flagged ‘Burgos’ chemical carrier, off the coast of Veracruz, which began at noon on September 24, 2016 has been extinguished after three days of firefighting, reported the New York Times.
The tanker, built in 2005, was en route from Coatzacoalcos to the Port of Veracruz when the fire broke out. Three boats, five tugboats and four naval vessels from the Mexican Navy were deployed to put out the fire in the two fore cargo tanks and rescue the 31 crew members.
The Pemex-owned ship has been left badly listing to port, although there have been no reports of leaks from the 168,000 barrels of gasoline and diesel fuel aboard.
José Antonio González Anaya, CEO of Pemex said: “Up to now, we have not detected any extensive spill.”
Pemex and the Mexican Navy have said it is too early to confirm the cause of the fire, although an explosion at 11.30am on September 24 was the first sign of trouble. It is now anchored seven nautical miles from the port of Veracruz and will be recovered.
This latest accident comes as Pemex is already struggling with increased competition and falling revenues as a result of the low oil price.
This also follows news of an incident which saw 70 tonnes of shipping fuel spill into the harbour at the Port of Tanjun Pelepas, Malaysia.
