http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/26/world/americas/mexico-fuel-tanker-fire.html 2016-09-26 03:37:54 Mexico Extinguishes Fuel Tanker Fire Off Gulf Coast Crew members were safely evacuated and no extensive spill had been detected, but the episode was another blow to the state oil company. === MEXICO CITY — Firefighting crews extinguished a fire aboard a fuel tanker belonging to the Mexican state Pemex said all 31 crew members aboard the tanker, the Burgos, were safely evacuated. The tanker was carrying 80,000 barrels of diesel fuel and 70,000 barrels of gasoline, but officials said the boat’s double hull reduced the risk of a spill. “Up to now, we have not detected any extensive spill,” José Antonio González Anaya, Pemex’s chief executive, said at a news conference in Veracruz that was broadcast by radio on Sunday, shortly before the fire was contained. It was too early to determine the cause of the explosion, he said. The 558-foot Burgos was carrying the fuel from the port of Coatzacoalcos to Veracruz and was 6.7 nautical miles offshore when the explosion occurred at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, A plume of black smoke was visible from the Veracruz seafront, and residents swapped dramatic photos and videos of the listing boat engulfed in flames. The tanker fire is a new blow to Pemex, which has had a series of accidents in the past few years. In April, In February, three workers died in a fire on an oil platform, 10 months after an accident on the same platform killed seven people. An explosion in 2013 at Pemex’s headquarters in Mexico City killed 37 people. With oil production and prices declining, Pemex has made sharp cuts in investment in the past couple of years. It enjoyed a monopoly for 75 years, but the company is facing new competition after the government opened the oil industry two years ago. Mr. González Anaya has said the company will seek partners to help develop some of its more complex oil fields.