Explorer

The "SS Explorer" was due to arrive in a repair yard, possibly in Dubai, in early July being towed by the tug "Ionian Fos" after a serious fire in the engine room. A boiler had some electricity problems on its control panel, which then caught fire. The crew fought the fire for just over half an hour before extinguishing it. The ship still had power because the generator was working but it would not be safe to put extra load on it. It was yet unclear how long the ship will be out of service until the fire damage has been assessed. The LNG tanker was on long-term time charter to regasification specialist Excelerate Energy. It was sailing in ballast after discharging a cargo for GDF Suez at Petronet LNG’s Dahej receiving terminal when the fire broke out off Mumbai on June 14 at 8:40 p.m.

A tug is helping keep a drifting LNG regasification vessel in position off the Indian coastline after the ship suffered an engine-room fire and subsequent propulsion failure. Antwerp-based MTI Network crisis management spokesman Bart de Clerck said the 150,900-cbm EXPLORER (built 2008) is under tow from the SCI PAWAN. De Clerk, who was speaking on behalf of the ship's manager Exmar, said a second tug will arrive today (Friday) to help tow the vessel to a repair yard. The LNG carrier, which is on long-term charter to Excelerate Energy, is in ballast. The spokesman said a fire broke out in the ship's engine-room at 2040 on Saturday 14 June while the ship was off the coast off Mumbai on India's west coast. He said the flames were put out by the crew using hand-held fire extinguishers but propulsion was lost after the incident. None of the ship's 31 crew were injured. De Clerk said EXPLORER is now being kept in place 115 nautical miles off the Indian coast by the first tug. "Everything is under control," he said. EXPLORER was en route to the Middle East after discharging a cargo on behalf of GDF Suez at India's Dahej LNG terminal. Source : Tradewinds

The "SS Explorer" suffered a fire in the engine room on June 14 at 8.40 p.m off Mumbai. The crew managed to extinguish the fire using hand-held fire extinguishers, but the vessel lost its propulsion. None of the 31 crew members were injured. The offshore tug "S.C.I. Pawan" (IMO: 9547233) took the tanker in tow. The "SS Explorer" was being kept in position 115 nautical miles off the Indian coast until a second tug joined to accelerate the towage on June 20. The "SS Explorer" was long-term charter to Excelerate Energy and in ballast at the time of the accident being en route to the Middle East after discharging its cargo on behalf of GDF Suez at India's Dahej LNG terminal.