Major explosion at Gadani shipbreaking yard in Pakistan kills at least 21 workers

A major blast caused by several gas cylinder explosions onboard an oil production and storage tanker, beached at Gadani shipbreaking plot number 56, killed at least 21 workers, NGO said in its press release. More than 60 workers are reported injured. It is feared that the death toll will increase as many workers are in a critical state suffering from severe burn injuries. More workers are missing and reportedly still remain stuck in the ship. 24 hours after the blast, the fire on the vessel is not put out.

The floating oil production tanker, ACES (IMO # 8021830), was sold to the Gadani shipbreaker by Jakarta-based PT Sinar Mentari Prima and was used in the Jabung Batanghari terminal owned by the Indonesian government company BPMIGAS and operated by PetroChina. The change of flag and name of the ship happened just weeks before it reached the beach of Gadani, which strongly point towards the use of a cash buyer for the sale of the end-of-life vessel. Cash buyers, such as GMS and Wirana, are middle men that specialise in the selling of ships to the beaching yards in South Asia.