Panoria
On January 4, the 190 meter long, 53514 dwt bulk carrier Panoria (IMO: 9480930) caught fire in South China Sea some 23 miles off Cape Eluanbi, Taiwan. The Panoria was headed to Nantong from Singapore when a fire broke out in the engine room. The crew after some effort were able to extinguish the blaze, but not after the main engine sustained damage. The cargo vessel lost power and and went adrift. Three crew suffered burns from the incident and one crew member was seriously injured and required medical treatment.
The Taiwan Coast Guard received a distress call from the Panoria and dispatched five vessels and a helicopter to assist. The helicopter arrived a few hours later and was able to safely evacuated all four injured crew. The helicopter took the injured crew to Kaohsiung where they were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment.
A tug was requested to take the Panoria under tow to Kaohsiung. The Coast Guard stated it would monitor the situation. No reports of pollution released.