On April 24th, an explosion was reported aboard an international bulk carrier, 1,300 miles off Cape Cod, where two crew members died and another two suffered massive burns and are in need of immediate medical attention, the US Coast Guard announced.
The USCG coordinated with the New York Air National Guard’s 106th Rescue Wing and the Canadian and Portuguese Coast Guards to provide a medical emergency response for crew members.
Specifically, as USCG informed, at approximately 7 a.m., the captain of the Marshall Islands-flagged 623-foot bulk carrier “Tamar” contacted watchstanders at the Coast Guard command center, reporting an explosion in the ship’s forward storeroom.
The Coast Guard reached out to their partner agencies to coordinate the emergency response. The New York Air National Guard’s 106th Rescue Wing launched an HC-130 aircrew with six pararescuers and one combat rescue officer, who jumped from their HC-130 with a small boat and advanced life-saving equipment to provide medical treatment for the crewmembers. The Canadian Coast Guard has also diverted two warships with physician assistants aboard.
The fire resulting from the explosion is extinguished, but the cause is is yet to be revealed. The ship’s engineering plant was unaffected and the crew is continuing on their transit to the Azores, Portugal. Their last port of call was Baltimore.
