Oil tanker incident in Murmansk
An explosion yesterday took place at the oil tanker “Dzhamrat”, moored in the Port of Murmansk, following an uncontrolled increase of pressure in one of the vessel’s tanks.
Human error caused the incident which took place at 9:30 pm Wednesday evening, the local emergency authorities inform. The 20,000 deadweight vessel was moored at the area of the Murmansk Fish Port when the incident happened.
A big bang was heard and a white cloud appeared over the vessel, Murman.ru reports. The explosion did not trigger any fire. No people are reported to have got injured, nor is any oil reported to have leaked to the surrounding waters.
Emergency services at the port, as well as a nearby coast guard vessel, immediately reacted to the explosion.
The tanker is reported to have got only minor damage from the incident. An investigation has been initiated.
Murmansk is experiencing a strong increase in oil shipments following the development of new oil infrastructure and terminals in the Russian North. A report published last year by the Norwegian Barents Secretariat together with Akvaplan-Niva indicates that oil transport in the Barents Sea will increase from 15 million to more than 100 million tons in the course of the next few years.
