Explosion sparks fire on oil tanker off Japanese coast
By Yoko Wakatsuki and Jethro Mullen, CNN

Tokyo (CNN) -- Japanese coast guard ships and aircraft are battling a fire set off by an explosion on an oil tanker off the country's coast.

The blast took place Thursday morning on the tanker Shoko Maru near the port of Himeji in western Japan, said Kenji Nakajima, a liaison officer at the 5th Regional Coast Guard.

Full story: http://edition.cnn.com/2014/05/28/world/asia/japan-tanker-explosion/index.html


-- CNN 2014-05-29

Thank god it wasn't loaded and only under repair...Japan economy cannot afford another maritime disaster .

1000 tonne ship.

Just as well it wasn't loaded, it could have been a massive, dripping sea bukkake.

this is(mainly) PURE SPECULATION so please don't have a go as a result...

Actually the fumes are usually the cause of explosion and fire on Oil Tankers,

crude oil in general(there are a lot of types of crude though) is about as flammable as tar...but the fumes range from "a bit touchy" all the way up to "make sure you're wearing a non static suit or KABLAMMO!",

so empty is more risky in terms of fire,but (obviously)not leaks,

you can actually see where the initial blast occurred in the second photo,

I agree with the "glad it wasn't loaded" comments though,

because that explosion could happen mid way through loading,or unloading and that would be hellish.