On the morning of May 20, two male workers were found unconscious on a cargo ship moored at Ishinomaki Port in Miyagi Prefecture, with one of them in critical condition.
Around 7:40 a.m. employees of a cargo ship flying the Panamanian flag moored at the Ishinomaki Port Unagino Kitafuto pier reported to the fire department that “two people had collapsed on board the ship.” According to the Ishinomaki Coast Guard, the collapsed individuals were a 57-year-old male worker from Ishinomaki City and a 53-year-old male worker from Osaki City.
They were both transported to the hospital due to carbon dioxide poisoning, with the 57-year-old worker in critical condition.
It is believed that the two collapsed while entering the ship’s warehouse to load cargo and suffered from oxygen deficiency. Although it was reported that palm kernel shells, used as biomass fuel, were stored in the warehouse, the causal relationship is not yet established.
What are Palm Kernel Shells?
Palm kernel shells are a natural by-product of palm oil processing. Due to its high calorific value and low ash content, it is now commonly shipped in bulk as natural biomass resource products.
As for the hazards of the cargo, it is liable to self-heat and if wet, or if containing a certain proportion of unoxidized oil, it can ignite spontaneously. When the cargo undergoes self-heating by oxidization via the unoxidized oil residues, resulting in depleting of oxygen and production of high carbon monoxide level in cargo spaces, this can pose a serious risk to the safety of the crew or anyone entering the cargo spaces as well as adjacent areas, BIMCO explains.
The Ishinomaki Coast Guard is conducting a detailed investigation into the cause of the accident and whether there were any safety issues involved.
