# Tanker Explosion Report



## John Rogers (May 11, 2004)

Found this article in todays paper.

Tanker captain’s actions may have led to the explosion that sank the tanker BOW MARINER off the Virginian coast on Feb.28 2004. The blast killed him and 20 others, six crew members survived. According to the investigation the captain had ordered crew members to open vapor-filled cargo tanks for cleaning, the 570 -foot Bow Mariner was filled with ethanol, fuel oil and diesel oil. Capt Efstratios Kavouras was among the 18 whose bodies were never found. Investigators could not determine what sparked the explosion but said Kavouras order was a “breach of normal safe practices for a tank ship and defines explanation or excuse.”


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## Coastie (Aug 24, 2005)

Ouch.


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## Bruce Carson (Jun 14, 2005)

Ouch, indeed!

A newspaper article on the sinking with a picture of the ship in better days and one of her going under.

http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story.cfm?story=66786&ran=142973

Bruce C.


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## Semaj (Sep 23, 2005)

John Rogers said:


> the captain had ordered crew members to open vapor-filled cargo tanks for cleaning.”


What a stupid thing to do if in fact that was the order. Ethanol, fuel oil and diesel oil what a mixture.
Once had Naptha flowing on the deck of the Luxor at sea due to heat expansion. We had flood the deck with water for ages, very scarey.

Jim.


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## John Rogers (May 11, 2004)

Thanks for posting the article Bruce. The Coastguard got out there pretty fast. What a nightmare on the ownership/management, owned by people in Singapore,Flys the Singapore flag,Commercially operated by an outfit in Bergen Norway,and managed by Hellenic of Greece.
John


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## Gulpers (Sep 8, 2005)

Bruce Carson said:


> Ouch, indeed!
> 
> A newspaper article on the sinking with a picture of the ship in better days and one of her going under.
> 
> ...


What a nightmare!
Interesting to note that the original March 2004 article, from Bruce's posting, was way off the mark! 
John's original posting proves just what can be uncovered with careful investigation!


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## Bob S (Jul 12, 2004)

Photo of the *BOW MARINER * passing Bayonne. NJ on the 8th September 2002 in better days.


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