At least five workers lost their lives and three to eight were reported missing after a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) carrier ignited at Pakistan’s Gadani shipbreaking yard, according to NGO Shipbreaking Platform.
The LPG carrier reportedly caught fire due to the presence of foam inside the ship, Dawn news reports.
This was the same vessel which suffered a fire at the yard in December 2016.
The incident comes some two months after Gadani was struck by a series of explosions on an oil tanker which was being dismantled at a shipbreaking yard.
“Just a little bit more than two months after the catastrophic fire that killed at least 28 shipbreaking workers and injured more than 50 more, the Pakistani shipbreaking industry is again shaken by a preventable accident that killed at least 5 men,” Patrizia Heidegger, NGO Shipbreaking Platform’s Executive Director, said.
“After an initial outcry by politicians all the way up to the Pakistani Prime Minister last November, nothing much has happened in order to prevent more loss of life. How much longer does the Government want to wait before it enforces stricter rules and regulations on this hazardous industry and finally moves it away from the beaches to modern ship recycling yards?,” Heidegger added.
World Maritime News Staff