“We are cooling the external body of the ship with fire hoses,” said Khaled Al-Arqubi, a spokesman for the Saudi Coast Guard Command in the Eastern Province.
“We want to prevent any leakage of chemicals into the seawater,” he told Arab News yesterday.
According to Stolt Tankers B.V., a subsidiary of Stolt-Nielsen Limited and operators and owners of the Stolt Valor, the vessel suffered an explosion onboard. It said there were 25 crewmembers, all Filipinos. “One of them died,” confirmed Al-Arqubi.
According to news reports in the international media, the US Navy received a distress call from the vessel while it was in the international waters. Stolt Valor’s master also told the US Navy that one crewmember died during the explosion.
Al-Arqubi said the 24 Filipino survivors were taken to the Bahraini capital Manama. He said since the chemical tanker caught fire in international waters, the shipowner, in this case Stolt Tankers B.V., will have to take all legal responsibility.
According to Al-Arqubi, the Coast Guard, Saudi Aramco and officials of the Presidency of Meteorology and Environment are monitoring the area to ensure there is no pollution in the waters close to the ill-fated ship.
