Kochi: Five workers were killed and seven others injured, one seriously, in an explosion on ONGC drillship ‘Sagar Bhushan’ that was undergoing repairs at the Cochin Shipyard here on Tuesday morning. The blast occurred at 9.15 a.m. when at least 12 workers were engaged in cutting and welding of steel plates inside the potable water tank at double bottom half of the ship in its forward area.
One of the workers K.B. Jayan, who later died, was the first to report gas leakage near the AC compartment area of the ship. Immediate instruction was passed on to stop all hot works and the fire force was informed. However, by this time the explosion occurred in the forward area of the ship near the AC plant. “Five workers died while we evacuated 12 others. What made rescue operations difficult was thick plumes of smoke emanating from the tank at the bottom portion,” said Mr Madhu S. Nair, chief managing director, Cochin Shipyard Ltd.
The dead were identified as senior fireman C.S. Unnikrishnan, a native of Eroor near Tripunithura, safety assistant (contract) Gevin Reji of Adoor in Pathanamthitta, contract workers K.B. Jayan of Kochi, M.V. Kannan of Eroor near Trippunithura and M.M. Ramshad of Malipuram. Among the injured the condition of P.T. Sreeroop, hailing from Kochi, is critical with 45 per cent burns. The other injured include T. Abhilash of Kollam, Jaison Varghese of Udayamperoor, Sanju Joseph of Kottayam, Rajan Ram of Uttar Pradesh, K.K. Tintu and P.X. Christin, both hailing from Kochi.
“It’s a dark day in the history of the shipyard. An immediate ex-gratia Rs 10 lakh will be provided to the kith and kin of the deceased. This will be over and above all other statutory obligations, including treatment expenses,” Mr Nair said.“We suspect the cause of explosion to be gas entrapment, oxygen or acetylene, in various pockets of the 237-cubic metre- capacity tank. “However, only a detailed probe could reveal the exact cause,” he said, adding that the mishap happened despite all safety precautions.
Three separate inquiries will be held into the incident, including the internal probe by Cochin Shipyard, Factories and Boilers head and the police department. “The internal probe will be headed by director operations and will have two chief general managers and two chief safety managers,” Mr Nair said. The ONGC drillship arrived at the Cochin Shipyard for repairs on December 7 for undergoing mandatory special survey (hull & machinery) repairs as per class requirement. It was dry-docked on January 12 and scheduled to be undocked onFebruary 28. The cause of the incident is being ascertained, ONGC said in a statement.
