A total of four crew members were injured after an explosion onboard the Hong Kong-flagged bulk carrier CSSC CAPE TOWN, while at Gibraltar Port on Friday evening.
At the time of the incident, the 2020-built ship carried 19 Chinese crew members and was loaded with 112,365 metric tonnes of coal destined for Baltimore, US.
The Royal Gibraltar Police have attented onboard the vessel to start preliminary investigation into the cause of the explosion which occurred at approximately 2110hrs CET.
Pending any contrary conclusion by the RGP in their currently open investigation, there is no reported reason at this point to suspect that any foul play gave rise to the explosion,
…Gibraltar Port Authority said in a statement.
Two of the injured crew members were treated aboard the vessel by paramedics from the Gibraltar Health Authority, while the other two were evacuated for urgent treatment at St Bernard’s Hospital by the GHA. Both have now been transferred to Seville burns unit suffering from 40 and 25% burns.
The anchor equipment of the vessel was damaged at the incident. The ship is now to the east of Gibraltar unable to anchor, but in constant contact with Gibraltar VTS.
The GPA will continue to work with the ship’s crew and its agents to assist in repairs, provisioning and, if possible, anchoring.
An investigation is underway to determine the cause of the incident.
