OMI Charger
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{{Infobox ship image |Ship image= |Ship caption= }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country=United States |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|United States|civil}} |Ship name=OMI Charger |Ship operator=OMI Corporation |Ship ordered= |Ship builder=Bethlehem Steel Corporation |Ship yard number= |Ship laid down= |Ship launched=10 June 1969 |Ship completed= |Ship acquired= |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= |Ship identification=*{{IMO Number|6921311}} |Ship fate=Sank in Galveston, Texas on October 9, 1993 |Ship notes= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship class=Steel hull oil tanker |Ship tonnage={{DWT|34,485}} |Ship displacement= |Ship length={{convert|631|ft|1|in|m|abbr=on}} |Ship beam={{convert|90.1|ft|m|abbr=on}} |Ship height= |Ship draught={{convert|48.9|ft|m|abbr=on}} |Ship draft= |Ship ice class= |Ship sail plan= |Ship propulsion=steam turbine {{cvt|15000|hp}} |Ship speed= |Ship capacity= |Ship crew= |Ship notes= }} |
OMI Charger was a single-hulled oil tanker built in 1969 and used by the OMI Corporation.
Disaster
On October 9, 1993 while the tanker was anchored at Boliver Roads near Galveston, Texas, work began on sealing a previously discovered leak in a cargo tank. When a crew member lit an arc welder inside a tank, it ignited gasoline vapors, causing a tremendous explosion which killed three crew members and injured seven. The subsequent fire burned for five hours, and the ship was a total loss.
A US Coast Guard investigation determined that the cargo tank had been improperly cleared and insufficiently tested prior to the incident.{{Cite web |title=Investigation into the Circumstances Surrounding the Explosion and Fire Aboard the Tanker OMI Charger |url=http://www.uscg.mil/hq/g-m/moa/boards/omicharger.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051104023814/http://www.uscg.mil/hq/g-m/moa/boards/omicharger.pdf |archive-date=2005-11-04 |access-date=2007-09-11}}
References
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{{1993 shipwrecks}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Omi Charger}}
Category:Maritime incidents in 1993
Category:Shipwrecks of the Texas coast
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