Issue #121, 15 December 2003
Fumes halt Namibian dredging project
Fairplay (www.fairplay.co.uk), the weekly international shipping magazine, says dredging operations at Walvis Bay in Namibia had to be abandoned after crew on a trailing suction hopper dredger were overcome by gas fumes.
The 18,590dwt Filippo Brunelleschi, owned by Belgian operator Jan deNul, was on a maintenance contract when it encountered hydrogen sulphidegas in the spoil dredged from the Walvis Bay approach channel, said Fairplay, quoting a Namport port engineer.
An independent eyewitness told Fairplay that the first indication of the presence of gas in the dredger's hopper came when one member of the crew lost consciousness after breathing in fumes.
Six crew members were later taken to hospital in Walvis bay sufferingfrom gas inhalation.
A spokesman for Jan de Nul told Fairplay that the Filippo Brunelleschi would concentrate on work at the ports of Durban and Coega for the time being.
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