U.S. Coast Guard of the MSC Idil taken May 12.

The MSC containership idled since suffering an onboard explosion eleven days ago off the coast of Puerto Rico has been cleared to move on, the U.S. Coast Guard says.

The ship, MSC Idil, was cleared Tuesday after salvors from DonJon-Smit finalized temporary repairs to the ship’s hull.

The 900-foot container ship had suffered the explosion on May 11 approximately 60 nautical miles north of Puerto Rico while on its way to Barcelona, Spain.  The ship’s crew sprung into action and were able maintain full control of the cargo and prevent any discharges of the reported 588,000 gallons of fuel oil and 62,000 gallons of diesel onboard at the time.

The initial report indicated that the explosion occurred in the vessels #5  starboard fuel tank and was possibly caused by hot work. No injuries were reported and an investigation in the accident is ongoing.

Following the initial report the USCG and others involved showed a quick and organized response effort and sent a number of assets to the scene.

“The key to the success of this response was the combined effort from the U.S. Coast Guard, MSC, DonJon-Smit, Atlantic Diving, Borinquen Towing, and San Juan Towing,” said Lt. Kristen Preble, Sector San Juan Incident Management Division chief. “Their ability to quickly and effectively work together to address the safety of the crew, the ship, and the environment under demanding conditions was phenomenal.”

The Coast Guard adds that Panamanian-flagged MSC Idil has continued its transit to Freeport, Bahamas, where Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) will have to conduct further assessments of the ship.

Coast Guard rescue crews are responding to the distressed container-ship MSC Idil, after the 900-foot tank ship suffered an explosion onboard late Friday afternoon, approximately 60 nautical miles north of Puerto Rico (U.S. Coast Guard Photo taken at approximately 11;45 a.m. Saturday.)

A sudden blast aboard an MSC containership off the coast of Puerto Rico forced crew to spring into action to stem the influx of water and stabilize the vessel, avoiding any injury and pollution.

The U.S. Coast Guard says the explosion occurred late Friday afternoon aboard MSC Idil with 25 people onboard, approximately 60 nautical miles north of San Juan, Puerto Rico.

The crew of the 900-foot Panamanian flagged container ship is all accounted for and no injuries were reported following the incident that caused the container ship to begin listing and take on water into a fuel tank and cargo compartment.

Following the expolosion, crew of the MSC Idil were able stabilized the situation and were controlling the ship’s stability using onboard water pumps to manage flooding.

The MSC Idil reported the explosion was most likely caused by welding that was taking place on board the vessel. The Idil also reported they have full control of their cargo and that they have not released any hazardous materials into the environment but are taking actions to mitigate any potential release. The vessel is reported to have 588,000 gallons of fuel oil and 62,000 gallons of diesel on board.

Aerial assessments have not detected any signs of pollution.

MAIN FACTS:
-A coalition warship is presently on site and is providing assistance.

-Company understands that 24 of the 25 crewmembers are safe and on board the coalition vessel.

-One crewmember is currently missing.

-Stolt is working in close cooperation with the authorities on site in order to establish the whereabouts of the missing seafarer and the condition of the vessel.

-Shares closed Wednesday at NOK123.

-By Dominic Chopping; Dow Jones Newswires

According to China’s state-owned news company, Xinhua, 4 workers have died following a boiler explosion on board a bulk carrier at the Zijinshan Shipyard in Nanjing this past Friday night.

The ship was nearly ready to be handed over to the shipowner, China Changjiang National Shipping, when the blast occurred.

According to a statement by the shipyard, “of the 12 shipyard workers who were admitted to a hospital, two slightly injured have been discharged and the rest are still under emergency medical treatment.”

The local Channel NewsAsia reported earlier Thursday that an explosion took place at the shipyard, citing eyewitnesses.

The two workers, employees of Haosen Marine Pte. Ltd., were pronounced dead by paramedics who arrived at the scene in response to reports received at 1:23 p.m. local time (0523 GMT), a Singapore Civil Defense Force spokesman said.

No other casualties have been found thus far, and the cause of the incident is under investigation, he said.

-By Chun Han Wong, Dow Jones Newswires

Photo credit: ChannelNewsAsia.com

CNN has the story:

Officials say it could take a week to extinguish a massive fire that burned Friday afternoon at a fuel storage complex in Puerto Rico, sending a thick black cloud of smoke over large parts of metro San Juan.
“I didn’t expect to see a mushroom cloud from my house,” said Justin Gehrke, who lives 4 miles from the refinery.

Eleven fuel tanks at the Caribbean Petroleum Corp. facility in the city of Bayamon, near San Juan, were ablaze, Gov. Luis Fortuno said. Firefighters were trying to cool the remaining 29 to keep them from igniting, he said.

“I don’t think there’s ever been a fire like this in Puerto Rico,” Fire Lt. Jose Atorre told CNN affiliate WLII-TV.

Fortuno said he declared a state of emergency for the area so Puerto Rico can get aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The storage and refinery complex sits on San Juan’s bay, and Fortuno said officials are working to protect it from being affected.

“We have serious worries that the bay or other bodies of water could be contaminated,” he said.

The company’s Web site says the complex has storage facilities for gasoline and gasoline-related products.

Newspaper and TV reports said a 4-inch pipe from a lagoon on the property was broken, preventing firefighters from using 2 million gallons of water from the lake to battle the blaze. About 150 area firefighters and 215 National Guard personnel were battling to keep the blaze from spreading.

Click HERE for the latest on this incident.

Thanks to forum member Luck.Runs.Out for pointing us to this in the forum.

March 21, 2006 – M/V Hyundai Fortune suffered a major explosion about 43 miles off the coast of Yemen in the Gulf of Aden.  An estimated 60 – 90 containers were blown overboard forming a debris field about 5 miles in diameter around the vessel.  Fortunately, a destroyer from the Netherlands was nearby to provide assistance.  All 27 of the crew were rescued, with just 1 receiving non-life threatening injuries.

The cause of the fire is not known but according to cargolaw:

“Photo analysis shows what appears to be a significant section of hull plating blown out above the waterline on the port side, under the house and aft deck (pictured above). If this is accurate, might have been an explosion inside a tank, as opposed to an explosion in a container.”

For more information on this and other maritime disasters, visit cargolaw.com

Even more information on the incident can be found HERE

Alaska along the coast of British Columbia, there is what is known as the inland passage to Alaska. The surge through the passage is one of the strongest ocean currents in the world. In the middle of this passage is a place called “Seymour Narrows” where the water swirls so strongly that it has been known to suck boats down into the abyss. Sailors dread the passage and even the largest ship has to wait for the right conditions to make a passage.

In the middle of those narrows was a rock called “Ripple Rock” That had two sharp peaks that stuck up to about nine feet below the surface. Just the right depth to gut even the mightiest ship. It sunk 119 ships and killed 114 people. On April 5th 1958 they blew the rock out of the water with the worlds largest non-nuclear explosion. Its’ worth the time to load and watch the clip. To make it full screen click on the Snowflake looking symble in the lower right corner. It will go back to normal when it ends. The End of Ripple Rock

Video at the end of this post.

(Thanks Larry)

CORRECTION:

Reader Jeremy corrcted our title. Here is information on the World’s Largest Non-Nuclear Explosion (Luck for us it’s still maritime related):

USMM.org tells us:

During World War II, one of the sources of ammunition for the Pacific Theater was the Naval Ammunition Depot at Port Chicago, California. Port Chicago is located on an arm of San Francisco Bay about 30 miles northeast of Oakland and San Francisco. The town of Port Chicago, population 1,500, was located about 1.5 miles from the pier. Not far away was Vallejo’s Mare Island, a major Naval Base which included ammunition depots.

On the evening of July 17, 1944 there were two ships being loaded at the pier. The Liberty ship SS E.A. Bryan, after 4 days of loading, had about 4,600 tons of ammunition and explosives on board; 98 black enlisted men continued work. On board the ship were 31 U.S. Merchant Marine crew and 13 Naval Armed Guard.

Docked at the pier since 6 PM that evening was the SS Quinault Victory being loaded by about 100 black men for its maiden voyage. On board were 36 crew and 17 Armed Guard. A Coast Guard fire barge was also moored at the pier. Besides 430 tons of bombs waiting to be loaded, the pier held a locomotive and 16 boxcars with its crew of three civilians, and a marine sentry.

At 10:18 an Army Air Force plane flying at 9,000 feet saw pieces of white hot metal, some as large as a house, fly straight up past them. According to the co-pilot, the “fireworks display” lasted about one minute. The explosion was heard 200 miles away.

More information can be found at USMM.org and HERE. Photos from the day can be found HERE.

After a brief hiatus we return to a popular gCaptain feature “Incident Photo Of The Week“. This weeks photo is the aftermath of a 2002 fire aboard the M/V Hanjin Pennsylvania. The reason for the damage? A container filled with fireworks! CargoLAw.com tells us;

Hanjin Pennsylvania fire “has gutted accommodation & engine room” At least 6 rows of containers on deck & under deck have been effected by the blaze, which is understood to have started in a container carrying fireworks & spread to engulf the area immediately forward of the superstructure. But as the ship continues to burn, and salvage crews are still hampered in their attempts to board the vessel to carry out firefighting operations, experts are already suggesting the likely cause of the explosion was not a container full of fireworks.

CLICK HERE for the dramatic photo of the actual explosion then visit the newly redesigned CargoLaw website for the details; Page 1, Page 2, Page 3

M/V Hanjin … Mid-Explosion;

Distant View;

For more information on this type of fire download the DNV’s presentation file HERE.