One worker is reported dead and another 11 were critically injured following an explosion on a former Shipping Corporation of India product tanker that was being cut up as scrap at a ship recycling facility in Chattogram.
The explosion took place on Saturday on board the 32,900-dwt Swarajya (ex-Suvarna Swarajya, built 1998), which was beached on the plot of SN Corp in April this year.
According to Bangladesh’s Business Standard newspaper and other local media publications, 12 workers were transported to hospital with nine having sustained critical burn injuries covering up to 90% of their bodies. One of these, described as a safety manager, later succumbed to his injuries.
The explosion reportedly took place in the pump room of the partially demolished tanker.
The Chattogram District Administration has formed an eight-member committee to investigate the incident. Bangladesh’s Department of Environment and Ministry of Industry have suspended all operations at SN Corp yards until further notice.
The Department of Environment said in a media statement on Sunday that a show cause notice has been issued, requiring SN Corp to explain within three working days why its operations should not be permanently shut down.
Authorities are looking into whether SN Corp breached environmental and safety standards.
SN Corp, which operates three yards in the Chattogram vicinity, is one of the few recycling companies in Bangladesh certified by the Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships.
An SN Corp manager described the accident to the Financial Express as unfortunate but stated that the company followed the safety rules for workers.
Senior executives at SN Corp were not immediately available for comment on Monday morning.
The incident once again raises concerns about safety at ship recycling facilities in Bangladesh.
Young Power in Social Action, one of the country’s prominent sustainability NGOs, said that a total of 140 workers were killed and many more injured at ship recycling facilities between 2014 and 2024.
Deaths have declined since, peaking at 22 in 2019, with none reported for 2024 until now.
