Tag: explosion

Carrying about 13,000 tonnes of a fuel oxygenator when the explosion occurred Tanker crew deaths are under the spotlight again after another fatal explosion onboard a tanker.A crew member died and 24 Filipino mariners had to be rescued in an explosion onboard the Dutch-owned Liberian-flagged Stolt Valor on 15 March. No Dutch nationals were onboard the vessel, owned by Stolt-Nielsen, when the explosion occurred as it transited international waters in the Persian Gulf.It was carrying about 13,000 tonnes of a fuel oxygenator used to reduce carbon monoxide emissions, when the explosion occurred. The environmental impact is unknown at this time but the cargo, methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE), is considered soluble not biodegradable.The US warship John Paul Jones and US Coast Guard cutter Baranof rescued the mariners from two life rafts, in response to a distress call from the vessel, said the US Navy in a press release.The survivors were transferred from the warship to the Baranof cutter for repatriation in Manama, Bahrain. They were in good health and did not require medical assistance said the US Navy. Stolt Valor's master had confirmed one crew member died during the explosion, it said.An explosion aboard a South Korean chemical and petrol ...

An investigation into the cause of the explosion is underway Four workers were killed and 12 injured in a boiler explosion on a cargo ship in the eastern Chinese city of Nanjing Friday night, a shipyard said Saturday.The explosion occurred at about 11 p.m. Friday on a bulk carrier as the Zijinshan shipyard of Nanjing Tanker Corp. would be about to deliver the ship to its parent China Changjiang National Shipping (Group) Corp. after repair, the shipyard said in a statement.Of the 12 shipyard workers who were admitted to a hospital, two sligtly injured have been discharged and the rest are still under emergency medical treatment, it said.An investigation into the cause of the explosion is underway.Source: Xinhua

A South Korean cargo ship has sunk after an explosion on board A South Korean cargo ship has sunk after an explosion on board, killing at least three crew members, the coast guard says.Eight people are still missing and five others have been rescued in the incident north of Jawol island, near the port of Incheon.The blast happened in the morning after the ship had unloaded oil products.The cause is being investigated, but officials say it is unlikely to be the result of an attack by North Korea."The explosion took place far below the sea border with North Korea. We see very little possibility (of attacks by the North)," a coastguard spokesman told the AFP news agency.The ship's owners said that the explosion could have been caused by gases leaking from the ship's oil tanks."We believe that something went wrong during the process to take out remaining gas in the oil tank," an official of Doora Shipping told South Korea's Yonhap news agency."The vessel usually transports diesel, but this time it carried gasoline. We are now examining whether it had any relation to the explosion," the official said.The dead crew members included two Burmese nationals and one South Korean.The search ...

Three people dead, one injured and two missing Investigations have begun into a series of explosions on a tanker at Fujairah that left three people dead, one injured and two missing.Some 105 local repair workers and crew were on board the Mercator-managed Aframax 'Prem Divya' when welding work created a spark that triggered three explosions last Thursday.The Vessel was in ballast at the time of the casualty, according to local UAE newspaper, The Nation.Fujairah port officials said that the vessel had been certified as having been gas free.Technicians representing both the owners and insurers have arrived in an effort to determine the cause of the incident, Capt Mousa Morad, Fujairah port general manager, told the newspaper.Half of the 24 crew were transferred to a hotel, while the other half remained on board. The repair workers had left, according to Ishtiaq Ahmed Malik, an official at the vessel's agency, Blue Sea Shipping Agency, talking to The Nation.'Prem Divya' is to remain at Fujairah until the incident has been fully investigated, a damage assessment has been carried out and compensation paid to the repair companies, plus the repatriation of the dead bodies.The Aframax arrived at Fujairah on 27th December for a 10-day ...

Explosions on an oil tanker at Fujairah port Investigations have begun into a series of explosions on an oil tanker at Fujairah port that left three people dead, one injured and two missing.Some 105 local repair workers and crew were on board when welding work created a spark that triggered three blasts on the MT Prem Divya on Thursday. The tanker, which is owned by the Indian firm Mercator Limited, was not carrying oil.Fujairah port authorities said the vessel had been certified as having been cleared of any of the flammable gases often present on oil tankers, particularly empty ones, where the gas has more space to expand.Technical experts representing both the shipowner and insurer had arrived to try to determine the cause of the accident, Capt Mousa Morad, the general manager of Fujairah port, said yesterday."They have to come together to find out," he said."There's money, there's insurance, there's some people missing - so many things."Meanwhile civil defence authorities began searching yesterday for the missing men.It was unclear if they had stayed on board or, like many of their peers, jumped into the water.The three crewmen who died had remained on board, and their bodies were being removed yesterday.One ...

Occured after a failure of a capacitor- part of the diesel-electric propulsion system The UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) has released the result of its investigations into a failure of a capacitor, part of the diesel-electric propulsion system of the cruise ship 'Queen Mary 2'.The MAIB feels that there are lessons that the industry should learn from this incident, which resulted in an explosion onboard,so has asked for our help in promulgating the information.Key issues:Explosion in the machinery space was triggered by the failure of a large capacitor within a 11kV passive harmonic filter The protection system for the harmonic filter did not work Vessel blacked out and was without steering or propulsion for 30 minutes. There were 3823 people on board at the time of the accident The investigation identified that there is a need to improve the awareness of the potential risks of high voltage harmonic distortion and arc flash. You can view the Report by clicking here.Source: MAIB

Explosion in a main electrical switchboard room An explosion in a main electrical switchboard room caused the Queen Mary 2 cruise liner to lose power, according to a marine accident report.The Southampton-based liner drifted in open sea for about an hour following the blast in September 2010.The Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) report said it was triggered by deterioration in the capacitors, which store energy.No-one was injured in the incident which happened near Barcelona.The report said: "A current imbalance detection system, which was the only means to warn against capacitor deterioration, was found to be inoperable, and it was evident that it had not worked for several years."It said it was fortunate the 150,000-tonne vessel was clear of navigational hazards at the time.Following the explosion, the emergency generator started automatically. The main generators were restarted and the ship was able to resume sailing.The MAIB said that since the incident action had been taken by Cunard's parent company, Carnival.It also made recommendations to Lloyd's Register and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.Source: BBC News

Reefer containers suffering explosions Following on from last week's Bulletin alerting the industry to the hazardous issues of defective reefers the UK P&I Club has gained insightful analysis from Industry experts, Cambridge Refrigeration Technology. CRT have kindly given permission for the Club to publish their initial findings. Their present advice is outlined below;QUOTECOUNTERFEIT REFRIGERANT IN REEFER CONTAINERSThere have been cases of reefer containers suffering explosions.Refrigerated Container refrigeration units should contain polyolester oil and the refrigerant HFC-134a (1,1,1,2-Tetrafluoroethane) and should therefore be incapable of exploding.Material recovered from the exploded units have been analysed by a laboratory and have found to be corroded by a chlorinated compound. Traces of alumina (AL2O3) were also found at the sites.From the above data we can be reasonably certain that the pyrophoric liquid ( burns in contact with air) to be is trimethyl aluminium (Al2(CH3)6). The explanation is that the system has been contaminated with a counterfeit refrigerant containing methyl chloride (chloromethane, CH3Cl). This gas works as a refrigerant but reacts with the aluminium in the compressor forming trimethyl aluminium, which is a liquid at room temperature.The issues that need to be resolved are:1. How can this be prevented from occurring again? 2. How can the ...

Recommendations for recharging LR issues safety alert regarding Explosion of refrigerated container compression units and recommendations for recharging applicable to Container ship operators and crew, container terminals and stevedores, road haulage firms, maintenance fitters and end users/leasers of refrigerated containers, as follows:There have recently been a number of incidents, some fatal, involving explosion of the compressor units fitted to refrigerated (reefer) containers. The cause of the explosions is still under investigation but it appears that the servicing of the refrigeration system is a common factor in each case. It has been reported to Lloyd's Register that refrigerant gas in refrigeration and air conditioning plants is being recharged or 'topped up' with different types of gas. This may have been a contributing factor to the explosions.The international community is phasing-out the use of HCFC R-22 refrigerant. This refrigerant is becoming increasingly difficult and costly to obtain. As a result, it has been reported that some service contractors are mixing dissimilar refrigerants in air conditioning and/or refrigeration systems. This practice carries the following significant risks:1. It may violate several European and national standards, and may be illegal in some countries.2. The unknown composition of the resultant refrigerant mixture may change system performance ...

Improper stowage in many of the containers was found The UK P&I Club issues bulletin regarding Calcium Carbide container incident (USA) as follows:A Member of the UK P&I Club reported that a container being shipped on the UP Rail had its doors blown off due to detonation of two drums of Calcium Carbide shipped within the container. The incident took place approximately 70 miles from El Paso, Texas. Below are the IMDG codes for the commodity;Shipping Name: CALCIUM CARBIDEIMO Class: 4.3UN Number: 1402Packing Group: 2Marine Pollutant: DAccording to rail officials, the explosion was likely caused by a spark from the steel drums vibrating during transit.Federal Rail Administration and shipping line surveyors inspected other Calcium Carbide shipments moving under the same bill of lading and found improper stowage in many of the containers.The stowage problems noted below are likely to have contributed to the incident.Several vertical securing bands on drum pallets were found to be loose. A 6"-7" horizontal void space between the wood bracings and drums was found in each container, nothing was preventing the longitudinal movement of the drums or pallets. Lumber for blocking and bracing should be a minimum size of 2"x6". In addition a solid plywood bulkhead ...