Fire on Russian Tanker Extinguished

Fire on the Russian tanker Jivanna at the Kaliningrad shipyard Yantar has been localized and extinguished, Itar-Tass reported. It took fire fighters almost seven hours to liquidate the powerful fire that started on the evening of April 5. 15 fire engines, four fire fighting boats, two tugboats and other equipment were engaged in the operation. A total of 100 people participated in the extinguishing operation. Almost the whole vessel was in flames. It had 200 tons of fuel oil and 200 tons of diesel fuel in its tanks. Two members of the tanker’s crew were hurt during the fire. They were hospitalized with medium severity burns. Fire fighters continued work after the fire. In particular, they were pumping in water in order to level the tanker that gave a lurch. As a result of explosions that started the fire, a hole was formed in the tanker and fuel is leaking from it. Oil booms have been set up in order to prevent further spread of the fuel. Special ships are cleaning up the spill. According to the regional Prosecutor’s Office, a preliminary cause of the fire is an explosion of diesel fuel vapor due to a short circuit. (Source: Itar-Tass)