Federal Transport Authority rescues unloaded Panamanian-flagged tanker's crew off UAE

 The Federal Transport Authority - Land & Maritime, said Wednesday all concerned departments were working to extinguish a fire, which broke out onboard an unloaded Panamanian-flagged tanker sailing 21 miles off the UAE after it had sent a distress call.

"Teams of rescue and emergency response at ports started providing the necessary help once they received the distress call and rescued the tanker's crew," the Authority said in a statement.

The Federal Transport Authority confirmed the tanker is "not loaded with any oil shipments and early reports attribute the incident to an accident during maintenance operations."