Explosion Rocks Singaporean Tanker

An explosion has ripped through an empty Singaporean supertanker in the Indian Ocean, Lloyds shipping intelligence reported on Tuesday.

"The damage to tanker Heng San is understood to be serious," the report said.

"The explosion was in her cargo tanks and part of one tank has been blown up, on the port side, with a hole in her deck."

The report said there had been no deaths and no pollution. "Heng San, in ballast, is now under way with all crew remaining on board," it said.

The 25-year old, 240,000 deadweight ton VLCC is managed by Ocean Tankers of Singapore, who were unavailable for comment.

The initial distress call was picked up in the early hours of Tuesday morning by Stavanger Coastguard in Norway.