Tankfire South Korea
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In Dalian, a port city in northeastern China, two oil pipelines exploded and burned for over 15 hours. The explosions caused severe damage to several structures in the Dalian area and affected 5 other tanks. Thousands of gallons of oil were spilled into the nearby harbour and the Yellow Sea. An early estimate reported a spill of around 1,500 tons (400,000 gallons), covering an area of at least 430 square kilometres. Beaches and port facilities were closed and local fishermen worked hard to contain and clean up the oil spill.
A polluted sea as primary water source
Because of the intensity of the fire and the risk of more explosions the fire was contained from four different sides. As part of the emergency response, Hytrans submersible pumps were deployed directly in the Yellow Sea, where a thick layer of oil had formed on the surface. Despite the harsh conditions and heavy contamination, the pumps continued to operate reliably and delivered the required water for the foam tenders. The HydroSubs were deployed for 107 hours continuously, pumping around 7 million liters of water.
A total of 300 fire vehicles and 3,000 emergency responders were mobilised to bring the fire under control.
