2 still missing as oil tanker fire off Hong Kong’s Lamma Island contained

Screengrabs via YouTube. Social media video opf the oil tanker on fire off the coast of Lamma Island. Screengrabs via YouTube.
Screengrabs via YouTube. Social media video opf the oil tanker on fire off the coast of Lamma Island. Screengrabs via YouTube.

Efforts to find two men still missing in the wake of this morning’s oil tanker fire off Lamma Island were ongoing as the sun set this evening, though complicated by an inability to board the still-listing vessel.

Speaking to reporters at a 6pm press briefing, Fire Services Department (FSD) spokesman Yiu Men Yeung significantly reduced earlier estimates of those injured in the blaze, which is known to have claimed one life, from 23 to seven.

The Aulac Fortune tanker, he said, was heading from the city of Donguan in Guangdong province to Thailand, and making a refueling stop at an oil barge near the southern coast of Lamma Island after 11am this morning.

After the crew had connected the necessary hoses to refuel the vessel, three explosions were heard.

“I felt my boat shaking. The tremble came from the sea,” said speedboat driver Michael Kwok, who told AFP he heard the three blasts while out on his boat nearby.

By 11:30am, 20 fire trucks, 14 ambulances, and 144 emergency workers had been dispatched to the scene. It would be five hours before the blaze had been contained.

The fire department’s Yiu told reporters it remains unclear what caused the explosions and subsequent fire, adding that the FSD and marine police have been unable to board the vessel to investigate as the oil tanker was currently listing at a 30 degree angle, and needs to be leveled before they can board it.

He went on to reassure reporters there was no risk of the tanker sinking, and no oil leaks, as the refueling process hadn’t begun at that point.

Deputy District Commander of Marine Port District Wong Wai-hong confirmed that the ship’s largely Vietnamese crew has been in touch with the Vietnamese consulate.

Emergency services confirmed to reporters that seven people who were injured had been sent to the Ruttonjee, Princess Margaret, and Queen Mary hospitals.




The Aulac Fortune is a Vietnam-registered vessel built in 2010, and arrived in Hong Kong last night. The vessel is about 144 meters long, and 22.6 meters wide.



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