One worker is reported dead and another 11 critically injured following an explosion on a former Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) product tanker that was being cut up as scrap at a ship recycling facility in Chattogram according to Trade Winds.
The explosion took place on Saturday on board the 32,900-dwt Swarajya (built 1998, ex Suvarna Swarajya), which was beached on the plot of SN Corporation in April this year.
According to Bangladesh’s Business Standard newspaper and other local media publications, 12 workers were transported to hospital with nine having sustained critical burn injuries covering up to 90% of their bodies. One of these, described as a safety manager, later succumbed to his injuries.
The explosion reportedly took place in the pump room of the partially demolished tanker.
The Chattogram District Administration has formed an eight-member committee to investigate the incident, while Bangladesh’s Department of Environment (DoE) and Ministry of Industry have suspended all operations at SN Corporation yards until further notice.
The Department of Environment said in a media statement on Sunday that a show cause notice has been issued, requiring SN Corporation to give an explanation within three working days as to why its operations should not be permanently shut down.
Authorities are looking into whether SN Corporation breached environmental and safety standards.
SN Corporation, which operates three yards in the Chattogram vicinity, is one of few Hong Kong Convention-certified recycling companies in Bangladesh.
An SN Corporation manger described the accident to the Financial Express as being unfortunate but stated that the company followed the rules of safety for workers.
Senior executives at SN Corporation were not immediately available for comment on Monday morning.
The incident once again raises questions over safety at ship recycling facilities in Bangladesh.
Young Power in Social Action, one of the country’s prominent sustainability NGOs said that a total of 140 workers were killed and many more injured at ship recycling facilities between 2014 and 2024.
Deaths have declined since peaking at 22 in 2019, with none reported for 2024 until now.
