Romania: Oil Tanker Explosion

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Grassroots Information Coordination Center (GICC) : One Thread

Nando Times

World: Oil tanker blast kills at least 10 in Romanian shipyard The Associated Press

CONSTANTA, Romania (June 5, 2001 12:33 p.m. EDT) - Shipyard workers welding the hull of an oil tanker sparked an explosion and fire in this Black Sea port Tuesday. At least 10 people were killed, officials said, and some people remained missing.

Five hours after the explosion, firefighters were still struggling to slice open the wreckage of a Maltese tanker to recover the dead and search for the missing.

The explosion took place at about 1 p.m. and set off a fire that raged for an hour, said Serban Berescu, the port's deputy director. Initial reports suggested a welder's torch ignited a mixture of paraffin and mud which fueled the blaze on the vessel.

It was the second fire to engulf the ship, the Anopolis, in the past two weeks and the second oil tanker in the past month to explode in Constanta, 155 miles east of Bucharest.

On May 8, a Bulgarian oil tanker exploded, killing two crew members.

-- Rachel Gibson (rgibson@hotmail.com), June 06, 2001

Answers

Sounds like the welders were welding on a slack tank. The way to weld on a tank is to press it up with water then weld or thoughly clean the tank and check for gases.

-- David Williams (DAVIDWILL@prodigy.net), June 06, 2001.

Moderation questions? read the FAQ