# 8 killed in tanker blast



## rushie (Jul 5, 2005)

From CBS News - 

_A gasoline tanker ship exploded Tuesday as a welding spark came into contact with fuel at a Mexican port, killing at least eight people and injuring nine others, officials said. 

Four hundred workers were evacuated from the area of the ship, owned by Mexico's national oil monopoly Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex. 

The explosion at Pemex's Pajarito marine terminal in the city of Coatzacoalcos occurred when the spark ignited gasoline, company spokesman David Lartundo and civil protection official Daniel Martinez told The Associated Press. 

In a news release, Pemex said the ship was empty of fuel and out of service at the time of the explosion, but that a spark produced by welding work on a crane came into contact with residual gasoline left in the tanker. 

Lartundo had said that the ship had been unloading fuel at the time of the blast. The discrepancies could not immediately be resolved. 

The company's news release said the blast in the gulf state of Veracruz killed three Pemex workers, three workers from repair company Lopez Garcia and two others who had not yet been identified. Nine more people were hospitalized for injuries, four of them minor, the company said. _

Rushie


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## makko (Jul 20, 2006)

Hi Rushie,

I am writing this from Pajaritos where I am on site to inspect the Quetzalcoatl. At the moment the vessel is closed off due to the Ministerio Publico or Public Prosecutors office investigation. I inspected the tug Pemex 54 yesterday. It has a large part of the crane over her poop. It was blown about 200m. There are seven dead. There is concern regarding the extent of damage to the tanker as they are hving trouble maintaining trim.

More later..............


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## amjhill (Oct 12, 2006)

makko said:


> Hi Rushie,
> .
> I am writing this from Pajaritos where I am on site to inspect the Quetzalcoatl. At the moment the vessel is closed off due to the Ministerio Publico or Public Prosecutors office investigation. I inspected the tug Pemex 54 yesterday. It has a large part of the crane over her poop. It was blown about 200m. There are seven dead. There is concern regarding the extent of damage to the tanker as they are hving trouble maintaining trim.
> 
> More later..............


Wow. Straight from the horses mouth. It's amazing how many people read this forum who have their "fingers on the pulse". Good luck makko


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## rushie (Jul 5, 2005)

*Cheers Makko.*

Thanks for the update...pity it's such a sad occassion.

Rushie


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## makko (Jul 20, 2006)

The vessel has been off limits due to the Public Prosecutor investigation. Ocular inspection programmed for Friday at 0900. No cameras. Update tomorrow.

Regards,

Makko


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## makko (Jul 20, 2006)

Just a very brief report on the ocular inspection realized today. The inspection was extremely useful, although it would have helped to have had a general arrangement. Access was restricted and it was impossible to access inside the vessel; I would have liked to have accesed the double bottoms and pipe tunnel.



Physical Damage. 
As a result of the explosion, the main deck immediately over centre tanks 5 and 6 has been peeled back, exposing the tanks completely to atmosphere. The explosion destroyed the tank wall between tanks 5 and 6. The port side wall between the Ctr. Tks and side tanks has been deformed by the pressure, although it is mostly intact with some tearing of plates and several perforations caused be flying debris. The starboard side Tk wall between 5 and 6 Ctr Tks and the side tanks was destroyed with the section lying at the junction of 5 and 6 Ctr Tks. Deck plates peeled up to 90 degrees for a section of about three metres aft of No.6, almost to the tank division between 6 and 7 Ctr Tks. Almost the entire deck section of Nos. 5 and 6 Ctr Tks peeled upwards and over itself, remaining top down over Nos. 4 and 3 Ctr Tks. The section crushed a deck house as it crumpled over. Further advance of this was detained by the deck breakwater which extends from the central service pipes almost to the gunwhale of the main deck, on both sides. Laterally the deck plating is curved up. There is a discernible bulge in the deck around the damaged area, although the gravity of this is hard to assess due to the amount of debris and damage. As the forward section curved up, it destroyed the transverse cargo manifold and supports completely. The area where the crane was fixed to the deck has severe corrosion. As the deck peeled forward, the weld at the base of the crane simply gave way and the crane was launched catapult fashion in a low arc. There is evidence to suggest that the deck plate immediately below the crane post was completely corroded through. There is a semi circular deck section missing immediately below the circular crane post. It was impossible to get close enough to determine the exact extent of corrosion or the limits of rupture of the deck section. The area under the forward peeled deck is packed with pipes of several diameters that were ripped out of position. Some debris fell on the Forecastle, damaging bulwarks. Numerous tank access hatches were ripped off and destroyed. The inert gas injection piping was largely destroyed. Several PV (pressure vacuum) units were destroyed. 40% of the bridge windows were shattered and several accommodation windows. The stbd bridge wing door was destroyed and the port door damaged. Port side lower access door from the weather deck to the accommodation was destroyed and paneling damaged. The open tanks contain a mixture of product, water and fire extinguishing foam residue.

Physical Explosion Evidence. 
As I have suggested in earlier reports, there is physical evidence of multiple explosions. Due to the buckling and damage caused to the plates, evidence suggests the following chain of events: Gas in No. 6 Ctr Tk ignited and probably split the deck at the after part of the tank. At the forward division with No.5 Ctr Tk and lateral division with the Stbd side tanks, the deck plates parted at the weld. The burning gas and inrush of air from the fracture then caused a secondary and possibly tertiary explosion of much greater magnitude which caused the catastrophic failure of the deck plates. Luckily, the tearing of the deck was detained by the breakwater; otherwise a chain reaction could have propagated forward in all tanks to the foc’sle. A duty diver reported hearing three distinct detonations, each of increasing magnitude.

Cause. 
Having seen the piece of pipe that was being installed at the time of the accident, there is no appreciable weld run. There are two possible sources of ignition: First spark from the electric arc welding rod or sparks from an angle grinder. The spark could have ignited “pooled” gas that had escaped from No.6 Ctr Tk either from an incorrectly closed access manway or through a corrosion perforation or crack located at the base of the crane. 

Flying debris. 
One considerably sized piece of deck was launched about 300m directly to port. Another smaller piece a little bit less. The extensive quayside is littered with a variety of objects from reductions to bolts, shattered flanges, pieces of pipework etc. A considerable amount of debris was launched aft, probably at the time of the catastrophic failure of the deck plating: The crane boom was launched completely forward, hitting probably the foc’sle head and falling to the quayside corner, destroying a barrier and light before finally falling onto the poop of the tug Pemex 54.


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