An oil tanker off the coast of Dakar was struck by four external explosions last week, causing it to take on water, AFP learned from the Turkish shipowner and Senegalese port authorities.
Security measures were implemented about 10 kilometres (six miles) off the coast of Dakar to stabilise the Mersin, a Panamanian-flagged tanker operated by the Turkish shipping company Besiktas, which was carrying nearly 39,000 tonnes of fuel.
“While the vessel was at anchor off the coast of Dakar, Senegal, four external explosions occurred”, Besiktas Shipping said in a statement Monday, adding that “seawater ingress into the engine room” had occurred.
According to the shipowner, there were no injuries or loss of life and “the situation was immediately brought under control”.
It additionally stated that “no pollution” occurred and the vessel remained “safe and stable”.
The cause of the explosion was not known as of Tuesday afternoon.
Dakar port authorities told AFP Tuesday that they had responded to a distress call from the Mersin on Thursday, before evacuating the predominantly Turkish crew and deploying resources to address the damage.
According to ship-tracking website myshiptracking.com, the Mersin had sailed from the port of Taman, located on the Kerch Strait which connects Russia to Crimea, a Ukrainian territory annexed by Moscow.
Dakar is a major west African port located along several Atlantic shipping routes that connect Africa and Europe, as well as Africa and the Americas.
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