Hope is fading for two men who went missing during a series of fatal explosions that rocked a Mercator products carrier off the UAE a week ago.
Sources tell TradeWinds that the Mumbai-based tanker and bulker owner is waiting for the results of an “official” investigation into three blasts that ripped apart the aft end of the 109,000-dwt Prem Divya (built 1998) at the port of Fujairah.
Authorities who recovered three bodies during a subsequent search and rescue mission say as many as 80 labourers and 24 Indian seafarers were forced to dive into the water when the aframax erupted in flames during a "routine" maintenance project that was expected to take ten days.
It’s not clear how many people were injured in total and the status of a worker who was in critical condition at a local hospital with burns and fractures to bone around his eye socket is also unknown.
Two of the deceased were part of a repair team while the third was member of the vessel’s crew, according to a Mercator spokesman who could not confirm reports that identified one of the missing men as an officer.
While officials blame a spark from a welding torch for an initial fire, many believe residual flammable gas caused a chain reaction that destroyed the vessel’s bridge and engine room despite claims that port authorities certified the ship “degassed” before hot work began.
In a brief statement, Mercator chairman HK Mittal and Peter Cremers, CEO of Hong Kong-headquartered shipmanager Anglo-Eastern Group, pledged to launch an internal investigation to determine the cause of the incident in an attempt to prevent future tragedies.
They also offered condolences to the families of the dead and injured.
According to data from Equsais, the Prem Divya is flagged in India, classed by Lloyd’s Register and maintains protection and indemnity cover with the North of England P&I Association.
