Product tanker AMPAR 8 suffered explosion, followed by fire, in the afternoon Mar 27 in Chao Praya river mouth, Bangkok area, Thailand, while mooring at the Bangchak depot in Phra Khanong district. The ship arrived from Koh Si Chang Anchorage with cargo of some 3,000 tons of reportedly, crude oil (offloaded from large tanker). One crew died in the explosion, three were injured. Tanker drifted downstream for some 3 miles, and finally, managed to drop anchor. Fire was extinguished by firefighters in about an hour.
Product tanker AMPAR 8, IMO 8740101, dwt 3500, built 2007, flag Thailand, manager AYUDHYA DEVELOPMENT LEASING CO.