immediately known whether a distress signal picked up by Bermuda's Harbour Radio was related to the 5 p.m. blast 65 miles south of Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic.

Harbour Radio heard a distress call shortly after 2 p.m., a spokesman said.

The US Coast Guard was searching for nine missing crew members following the explosion aboard the 500-foot tanker Albinoni . There were at least 22 survivors.

It was not known what type of cargo was aboard the tanker, which split in two and was drifting, said Petty Officer Joe Dye in Miami.

The most seriously injured were being hoisted from a life raft and flown by helicopter to Santo Domingo, Mr. Dye said.

The 9,000-ton tanker, owned by Albinoni Corp., was not believed to have visited Bermuda since she was built in 1976, the Harbour Radio spokesman said.

With no US Coast Guard vessels in the area, the merchant vessels Patriot and American Clipper were on their way to help in rescue efforts.

Several Coast Guard aircraft would search for the missing people into the night, Mr. Dye said.