Cargo ship in the port of Newcastle could explode after fertiliser spill
Fire crews have set up a one-kilometre exclusion zone around a cargo ship in Newcastle after a crane leaked a potentially explosive mix of hydraulic oil onto hundreds of bags of ammonium nitrate.
As well as being used as a fertiliser for agricultural purposes, ammonium nitrate has been an ingredient in improvised bombs, such as those used in Oklahoma City in 1995 and Bali in 2002.
Emergency crews were called to Newcastle Port's Kooragang Island about 1am today after a hydraulic line on the ship's crane, which had been loading 1.2-tonne bags of the fertiliser, burst.
An estimated 150 litres of oil spilled into part of the ship's hold, where about 350 bags of the fertiliser had been loaded.
A further 1150 bags had already been placed in other parts of the ship.
NSW Fire Brigades spokesman Superintendent Craig Brierley said the ship had been turned around so that a land-based crane could access and unload the contaminated bags from the ship, which is called Priam.
The bags are being unloaded one at a time before being inspected and cleaned, he said.
It could take several hours to remove the affected bags, at which time the area would be declared safe, he said.
Earlier, Superintendent Chris Jurgeit said that, if the bags were ignited, there could be an explosion that could cause serious damage up to 100 metres away.
"It's not a good mix at all. If ammonium nitrate mixes with oils and things like that, it reacts as a potentially explosive mixture. But it needs an ignition source to set it off."
Superintendent Jurgeit said the exclusion zone had been set up around the ship to ensure members of the public were not at risk.
A spokesman for Newcastle Port Corporation said the incident had disrupted coal loading operations at the Kooragang terminal.
As well as being used as a fertiliser for agricultural purposes, ammonium nitrate has been an ingredient in improvised bombs, such as those used in Oklahoma City in 1995 and Bali in 2002.
Emergency crews were called to Newcastle Port's Kooragang Island about 1am today after a hydraulic line on the ship's crane, which had been loading 1.2-tonne bags of the fertiliser, burst.
An estimated 150 litres of oil spilled into part of the ship's hold, where about 350 bags of the fertiliser had been loaded.
A further 1150 bags had already been placed in other parts of the ship.
NSW Fire Brigades spokesman Superintendent Craig Brierley said the ship had been turned around so that a land-based crane could access and unload the contaminated bags from the ship, which is called Priam.
The bags are being unloaded one at a time before being inspected and cleaned, he said.
It could take several hours to remove the affected bags, at which time the area would be declared safe, he said.
Earlier, Superintendent Chris Jurgeit said that, if the bags were ignited, there could be an explosion that could cause serious damage up to 100 metres away.
"It's not a good mix at all. If ammonium nitrate mixes with oils and things like that, it reacts as a potentially explosive mixture. But it needs an ignition source to set it off."
Superintendent Jurgeit said the exclusion zone had been set up around the ship to ensure members of the public were not at risk.
A spokesman for Newcastle Port Corporation said the incident had disrupted coal loading operations at the Kooragang terminal.