Blaze breaks out on disused VLCC off Dubai

An out-of-use VLCC caught fire yesterday 21 nautical miles northwest of Dubai.

Splash understands the Zoya 1, which has not traded for the last three years and has seen its crew face appalling conditions onboard, was having its tanks cleaned in preparation for scrapping when the blaze broke out yesterday.

The ship has been at the centre of a three-year legal dispute with local Dubai newspapers describing the plight of the abandoned crew onboard. The crew were evacuated yesterday as the fire grew in intensity. The 1996-built ship had no cargo onboard when the fire started.