June 2, 2006

VANCOUVER, Wash. - A load of lumber caught fire aboard a cargo ship Friday while the crew was welding a broken ladder, officials said.
No injuries were reported, and damage was minor.

But the fire in the hold of the Ciclope sent a column of thick black smoke into the air at a Port of Vancouver dock along the Columbia River.

Crews were able to seal the hold and pump carbon dioxide gas inside to smother the blaze, said Rick Steele, spokesman for the Vancouver Fire Department.

19 rescued from Kinmen-Xiamen ferry fire
KINMEN, Taiwan -- All 19 crew members aboard a passenger ferry that caught fire at 11:15 a.m. yesterday at a port in the outlying Kinmen county were rescued after being trapped by the blaze, which was finally extinguished at 4:52 p.m.

Only one crew member was reported suffering from minor smoke inhalation.

The fire occurred on the Xiamen-registered “Tong An” vessel with a seating capacity of 380 and 1,000 tonnage after it had arrived at Shuitou Wharf in Taiwan-controlled Kinmen from Xiamen on China’s southeastern coast, and all its 37 passengers had disembarked.

Immediately after learning of the fire news, the fire department under the Kinmen County Government dispatched 15 fire engines and ambulances, as well as over 70 firefighters to the Shuitou Wharf. In addition, the coast patrol squad of Kinmen also sent two patrol vessels to join the rescue, while Kinmen county magistrate Lee Chu-feng also arrived at the site to show his concern over the incident.

As the fire occurred on the sea, the fire fighters could hardly do anything to put out the fire.

On another front, Xiamen harbor authorities also sent four ships to rescue those crew members trapped by the fire. The scene showed that ships flying ROC flags and those with PRC flags were joining forces in the rescue operation. It was the first time a passenger ship sailing the Mini Three Links route between China and Kinmen had caught fire since the links were opened in 2001.

Preliminary reports speculated that the fire was sparked by a faulty electric wire.

Kinmen county police department, fire engine department and Kaohsiung Harbor Administration have all kicked off their investigations to determine the real reason behind the fire incident.

SEOUL, South Korea: A South Korean fishing boat sank Thursday in waters off the country's east coast due to a fire, leaving one of two rescued crew members dead and five others missing, a Coast Guard official said.

Meanwhile, rescuers were searching off the nation's southern coast for 14 sailors feared dead in a separate accident involving their ship that was carrying nitric acid.

The fishing boat accident happened before dawn when the 24-ton ship caught fire, forcing the seven crew to abandon the boat after failing to extinguish the flames, said an official at the Coast Guard station in Sokcho, 210 kilometers (130 miles) east of Seoul.

Two fishermen were rescued by a nearby boat and Coast guard vessels three hours after the accident but one later died apparently of hypothermia, the official said on condition of anonymity, citing internal policy.

"All of us were sleeping but someone shouted 'fire' and rest of us were trying to put out the fire by an extinguisher before jumping into the sea," the official quoted Lim Se-jin, the rescued survivor, as telling Coast Guard officials.

Australia holds day of mourning for fire victims
The ship sank six hours later in waters about 76 kilometers (47 miles) east of Jumunjin, a city on the east coast, the official said.

Some 50 Coast Guard, navy and fishing boats joined by helicopters launched search and rescue operations to find the missing.

None of the fishermen wore life jackets and the possibility of survival was diminishing unless they are rescued quickly, the official said.

Also Thursday, Coast Guard boats and helicopters searched for 14 sailors feared dead in a separate accident in waters off the nation's southern coast.

The ship, carrying 2,000 tons of nitric acid, was feared to have sunk after it sent out a distress signal early Tuesday off Yeosu, 455 kilometers (280 miles) south of Seoul. One sailor has been rescued.

The coast guard dispatched boats to measure the acidity of the water to determine whether or how much nitric acid was released, said a female officer at the coast guard's marine pollution bureau, adding that the results were not yet ready.

The spate of ship accidents come after South Korea works to contain the country's worst-ever oil spill, which blackened beaches and jeopardized the ecosystem along the country's west coast after a wayward barge hit a supertanker on Dec. 7.