US Coast Guard ends search for missing 'Bow Mariner' crew
01 March 2004 23:48 [Source: ICIS news]
HOUSTON (CNI)--The US Coast Guard (USCG) said late Monday that it has ended its search for possible survivors from the sunken Bow Mariner, saying it is unlikely any of the 18 missing crewmen could still be alive.
The end of the Coast Guard search effort brings the number of crewmen lost to 21. Only three bodies have been recovered, according to the USCG.
Six other crewmen were rescued Saturday after the Bow Mariner suffered an explosion and sank quickly. The 570-foot, 39 821 tonne dead-weight (dwt) tanker was en route from Linden, New Jersey to Texas City, Texas when the explosion struck as the vessel was passing 50 miles offshore of Norfolk, Virginia.
The Singapore-flag vessel was carrying a cargo of 11 570 tonne of industrial ethanol, having earlier offloaded a cargo of methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) at Linden. The ship was owned by Odfjell Seachem of Norway and managed by Ceres Hellenic.
In announcing the end of search efforts earlier today, USCG Rear Admiral Sally Brice-O'Hara said: "It is my sincere hope that the friends and family" of the missing crewmen "know that we did everything in our power to find their loved ones."
Brice-O'Hara said that as operational commander of the search and rescue effort, "the decision to call off a search when there are still people missing is one of the most difficult decisions I have to make." She noted that more than 80 Coast Guardsmen manning vessels from two USCG ports and aircraft from one airfield mounted a search that lasted 48 hours and covered 70 square miles of sea surface where the vessel was seen sinking.
By: Joe Kamalick
+1 713 525 2653
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