Tanker Explosion Search Halted

The search for 18 missing crewmen who vanished when their tanker carrying industrial ethanol exploded and sank has been abandoned, bringing the total number of presumed dead to 21.

The Coast Guard gave up hope Monday that the men might be found alive following two days of searching the 44-degree waters off the Virginia coast with aircraft.

"It is my sincere hope the friends and family know we did everything in our power to find their loved ones," said Rear Adm. Sally Brice-O'Hara, a Coast Guard district commander.

The 570-foot Bow Mariner went down Saturday night more than 50 miles east of Chincoteague. The Coast Guard said that the explosion was accidental but that the exact cause was under investigation.

Guardsmen don't yet know how much of the fuel aboard the ship spilled, but they say it was carrying 3.5 million gallons of ethanol, 48,000 gallons of stored diesel fuel and 193,000 gallons of fuel oil.

Six survivors were plucked from a life raft on Saturday. The last of them was expected to be released from the hospital Tuesday. The survivors, all men from the Philippines, have declined interview requests.

The Coast Guard searched the Atlantic waters Saturday night and again on Sunday until nightfall. A C-130 airplane resumed the search shortly before daybreak Monday. The Coast Guard decided to abandon the search in the afternoon.

Only small pieces of debris, such as life jackets, have been found, the Coast Guard said.

Most of the industrial ethanol spewed from the tanker evaporated immediately, but Coast Guard officials said Monday the ocean was covered in places with a sheen, likely from the remaining ethanol.

By Sonja Barisic