Last night, Thursday 20th January, at 23:45 GMT, Suffolk Police were called to report an incident: the Manhattan Bridge ship was docking at the Trinity Terminal in the Port of Felixstowe when there was an explosion on deck in the boiler room. The blast is thought to have been caused by steam building up in the boiler room of the Manhattan Bridge vessel as it arrived at the Trinity terminal.
Unfortunately two people were caught in the accident; one died and another was taken to hospital where he is being treated for serious burns.
The ship was not close enough to the port to fall under their jurisdiction, according to a port spokesman; due to this, the Suffolk Police are leading the investigation. The Suffolk Police however are conducting a joint investigation with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. The scene is still populated with police.
Although the incident is being investigated, the death is not being treated as suspicious.
The Port of Felixstowe is the largest and busiest container port in Britain. Every year, around 3,000 ships travel through the port – on a global scale, Felixstowe is the 37th busiest port in the world. It accounts for around 42% of Britain’s containerized trade.
Owned by Hutchison Port Holdings Group, Felixstowe Port is operated by the Felixstowe Dock and Railway Company, a limited company that was set up under an Act Of Parliament. Over 30 shipping lines operate from the port and it has its own Port of Felixstowe Police, fire, and ambulance services.
The Manhattan Bridge, the ship upon which the explosion happened, is a Japanese container ship. Built in 2015, the ship is 366m long and can carry up to 14,000 containers. The K-LINE operated ship was headed to De Ham, the Port of Hamburg, where she was meant to reach by January 22nd at 3am.
Shippo customers have a number of shipments on the Manhattan Bridge and if there are any delays to shipments caused by investigations we will be in touch with the customers affected directly. If you are concerned, feel free to contact us.
Our thoughts are with the two men and their families.