One dead, 9 missing in Greek ship fire

CARACAS (Reuters) - One crew member was reported dead, two injured and nine missing on a Greek bulk carrier after a fire broke out on Friday while it was off the Venezuelan coast, a Venezuelan official said.

Rafael Lugo, the national commander of Venezuela's Maritime Rescue and Aid service, said the Greek ship "Aegean Wind" was 35 nautical miles northeast of the Venezuelan Caribbean island of La Blanquilla. It was en route to Houston from Brazil.

"There are nine (people) missing, two wounded and it is already known that there is one (person) dead," Lugo said in comments broadcast by Caracas radio station Union Radio.

"The authorities have taken measures," he said. "(We've) installed an emergency hospital on the island of La Blanquilla."

Rescue authorities were seeking compressed oxygen tanks to equip rescue personnel to search for missing crew members inside the vessel, Lugo told the Caracas-based Telesur TV network, according to the official news agency ABN.

The fire broke out at 4 a.m (830 a.m. British time) and authorities were investigating the blaze's cause, Lugo told Telesur.

Medical and civil defence officials were also being dispatched from Porlamar on Venezuela's Margarita island, Lugo said on Union Radio. The aim was to give crew members first aid before taking them to Margarita, a major tourist resort.

Lugo called on all ships in the vicinity to help in the rescue operation.

In Athens, a Greek coast guard official said a search and rescue operation involving a helicopter, a hydroplane and a Venezuelan coast guard vessel was trying to locate the sailors, assisted by a cargo ship sailing near the Greek vessel.

"The fire is under control, there is no risk of sinking," he said. "Of the missing crew, three are Greek and the rest Philippine nationals,"

The ship, which was carrying iron ore, is operated by Athens-based Atlantic Bulk Carriers, Greek sources said. A lawyer for the company told Greek state TV there were no reports of pollution due to the fire. The ship, built in 1983, had a crew of 24.

Greek authorities did not know whether the missing crew had jumped into the sea or were trapped in their cabins.

(Additional reporting by George Georgiopoulos in Athens; Editing by Paul Simao)