Injured Seafarers Medevaced from Bulk Carrier After Explosion

Members of the 106th Rescue Wing assigned to New York Air National Guard, run to add additional supplies for a rescue mission to Lajes, Azores, April 24, 2017, Westhampton Beach, N.Y.

The two surviving crewmembers of the bulk carrier Tamar explosion were medevaced at approximately 4:30 a.m. on Wednesday by a Portuguese aircrew.

The aircrew arrived in Terceira Island, Azores, at about 7 am, and a Portuguese Air Force jet will bring the injured men to Lisbon, Portugal, for medical treatment.

Three New York Air National Guard’s 106th Rescue Wing pararescuers accompanied them on the flight to continue the medical care they had been providing on board the vessel.

The captain of the Marshall Islands-flagged 623-foot bulk carrier Tamar contacted watchstanders at the U.S. Coast Guard command center reporting an explosion in the ship’s forward storeroom on Monday.

The explosion has left two crew members dead and two others suffering massive burns. Initially, it was reported that only one man had died, but at approximately 7:45 p.m. on Monday local time, the captain of the Tamar reported another crew member had died.

The fire resulting from the explosion is extinguished, and the cause is unknown. The vessel is owned by the Slovenian shipping firm Splosna Plovba.