A court in Dubai has fined and imposed a suspended jail
sentence on five crewmembers of container feeder Ocean Trader (IMO 9056739), which suffered a cargo container
explosion at Jebel Ali last year.
On June 27th 2021, three containers of organic peroxide
arrived in Jebel Ali from China and were stored in a terminal yard. The court
noted that organic peroxides were a known hazardous cargo with a risk of
thermal runaway, and that summertime temperatures in Dubai were high.
During the night of July 7th 2021 the containers were
loaded aboard the Ocean Trader. One of the containers began emitting fumes and
exploded shortly after it had been hoisted on deck. The blast was heard
throughout the emirate. There were five minor injuries, according to
prosecutors.
Although the cargo had only just been loaded, and the
initiating events occurred on the pier, local prosecutors brought charges
against the vessel’s captain and four crewmembers over the blast. Prosecutors
contended that the master’s responsibility for stowing the containers made him
liable, even though he played no role in the cargo’s open pierside storage.
The Dubai Misdemeanour Court found that the container
involved in the blast had been left in the sun on shore for 12 days, resulting
in the decomposition and heating of the cargo inside, and found all five
crewmembers guilty. They were fined a total of the equivalent of $28,000. Five
companies connected to the ship and the shipment were also fined $28,000 each.
The master denied that he would have accepted the cargo
if he had known how it had been stored. He pointed out to the court that he safely
evacuated the ship and informed authorities when the hazardous containers began
emitting fumes.
1993-built, Comoros-flagged, 2,745 gt Ocean Trader is
owned by Sash Shipping Core care of manager Inzu Ship Charter LLC of Dubai,
UAE. No AIS since July 2021.
