20th February 2021, 17:25
Two CSSC Cape Town crew members taken to Seville hospital with 40% and 25% burns following explosion
Published by GBC News
Two crew members aboard the CSSC Cape Town have been taken to Seville hospital burns unit suffering from 40% and 25% burns following an explosion aboard the vessel on Friday night.
Another two injured crew members were treated aboard the vessel by GHA paramedics.
The Royal Gibraltar Police are attending on board the vessel to start a preliminary investigation into cause of the explosion.
Initial reports suggest there is no reason to suspect that any foul play gave rise to the explosion.
The explosion resulted in a total of four crew members being injured.
Two crew members were treated abord the vessel by paramedics from the Gibraltar Health Authority
Two other crew members 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 Port of Algeciras offered to assist with the evacuation of the injured crew members via helicopter. The decision to evacuate the crew members to St Bernard’s Hospital was made by Gibraltar Health Authority Paramedics
The vessel is now to the east of Gibraltar unable to anchor at present but in constant contact with Gibraltar VTS. The Port says the vessel is stable and fully operational with the exception of its anchor equipment The GPA will continue to work with the ship’s crew and its agents to assist in repairs, provisioning and, if possible, anchoring.
The CSSC CapeTown is loaded with 112,365 metric tonnes of coal, loaded at Curtis Bay Coal Terminal in the United States. This cargo does not represent a danger to the vessel or to other vessels in the immediate vicinity. The cargo is classed as non-dangerous under the Convention on Facilitation of International Maritime Traffic (also known as the FALC Convention).
Technicians will shortly attend the vessel to try to repair the vessel’s anchor system.
Classification and flag state representatives and surveyors will also attend to carry out their own investigations aboard the vessel. It is also anticipated that additional crew will be brought tor replacethose injured.
The CSSC CAPE TOWN is flagged in Hong Kong. It was built in 2020 and carries 19 crew, all Chinese nationals. Its last port of call was Baltimore in the United States of America, and the next port of call is listed as Port Said in Egypt.
The Gibraltar Port Authority says it extends its gratitude to all agencies, authorities and individuals who have assisted in dealing with this incident, as well as the Port of Algeciras for its offer of assistance in dealing with the casualties.