PORTSMOUTH, Va., Feb. 28 (UPI) -- A tanker loaded with industrial ethanol exploded about 50 miles off the Virginia coast late Saturday and nearly 20 crewmembers were missing.
The Coast Guard assembled search aircraft and ships, rescuing six members of the crew after the tanker sank and recovering two bodies.
But the rest of the 27-person crew remained missing as darkness fell, the Coast Guard reported.
The Bow Mariner, a 570-foot freighter, radioed the Coast Guard shortly after 6 p.m. EST to report the explosion.
The Singapore-flagged vessel was traveling from New York to Houston with 24 Filipino and three Greek crewmembers, United Press International reported.
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