Explosion Aboard Chinese Bulker CSSC Cape Town in Gibraltar Bay Leaves Four Injured

Hong Kong registered bulk carrier CSSC Cape Town suffered an explosion aboard as the vessel entered British Gibraltar Territorial Waters in the Bay of Gibraltar on 19 Feb 2021 at approximately 2110hrs Central European Time.

The 2020 built vessel was carrying coal when the explosion took place. The explosion appeared to be in the area of the vessel’s forecastle, the cause of the explosion is not yet known. No fire is reported onboard the Chinese bulker.

The explosion resulted in a total of four crew members being injured out of the total 19 Chinese crew members. Two crew members were treated aboard the vessel by paramedics from the Gibraltar Health Authority (GHA). Two other crew members were evacuated for urgent treatment at St Bernard’s Hospital by the GHA. Both have now been transferred to Seville burns unit suffering from 40 and 25% burns. 

The Port of Algeciras offered to assist with the evacuation of the injured crew members via helicopter. The decision to evacuate the crew members to St Bernard’s Hospital was made by Gibraltar Health Authority Paramedics.

Presently CSSC Cape Town is to the east of Gibraltar and is unable to anchor. The vessel is in constant contact with the Gibraltar VTS. The vessel is reported to be stable and fully operational with the exception of its anchor equipment. The GPA will continue to work with the ship’s crew and its agents to assist in repairs, provisioning and, if possible, anchoring.

Related: Massive Explosion on an Indonesian Tanker Caught on Camera

As confirmed by GPA, CSSC Cape Town is loaded with 112,365 metric tonnes of coal, loaded at Curtis Bay Coal Terminal in the United States. This cargo does not represent a danger to the vessel or to other vessels in the immediate vicinity. The cargo is classed as non-dangerous under the Convention on Facilitation of International Maritime Traffic.