Man dies in harbour explosion

ONE man died instantly and three others sustained serious burn wounds following an explosion on a ship in the dry dock at the Walvis Bay Harbour at around 16h00 on Sunday.

The deceased has been identified as Frans Kambonde. Police reported that the four men, all employees of Wesco Salvage, were welding a tank aboard the tug, the Seabulk Penguin I, when a gas bottle exploded.Other sources reported that the men were spray-painting the hull at the time.The vessel, which is of West African origin, is cradled on a syncrolift at the harbour for annual repair work.It is used to carry supplies to drill rigs at sea.Wesco Salvage carries out maintenance work on a variety of local and foreign vessels in the Walvis Bay harbour.The company’s manager, Anton Pretorius, was not available for comment yesterday.Two of the injured – Joseph Shindombe and Timoteus Amadhila – were reported to be in a serious condition in Windhoek’s Medi-Clinic.Sylvanus Ashipala has been hospitalised at the Welwitschia Hospital at Walvis Bay.This is the second death related to salvage work carried out by the company in less than a year.Last August a Cameroonian man died when a ladder used on a vessel fell on him.NamPort CEO Sebby Kankondi said yesterday that his company would investigate the incident.He said the cause of the explosion could not yet be determined for certain.Kankondi said no NamPort employees were involved in the incident and that the maintenance area was contracted for use to Wesco Salvage.He said he had visited the site of the incident, but could not comment on the damage caused to the vessel.Police reported that the four men, all employees of Wesco Salvage, were welding a tank aboard the tug, the Seabulk Penguin I, when a gas bottle exploded.Other sources reported that the men were spray-painting the hull at the time.The vessel, which is of West African origin, is cradled on a syncrolift at the harbour for annual repair work.It is used to carry supplies to drill rigs at sea.Wesco Salvage carries out maintenance work on a variety of local and foreign vessels in the Walvis Bay harbour.The company’s manager, Anton Pretorius, was not available for comment yesterday.Two of the injured – Joseph Shindombe and Timoteus Amadhila – were reported to be in a serious condition in Windhoek’s Medi-Clinic.Sylvanus Ashipala has been hospitalised at the Welwitschia Hospital at Walvis Bay.This is the second death related to salvage work carried out by the company in less than a year.Last August a Cameroonian man died when a ladder used on a vessel fell on him.NamPort CEO Sebby Kankondi said yesterday that his company would investigate the incident.He said the cause of the explosion could not yet be determined for certain.Kankondi said no NamPort employees were involved in the incident and that the maintenance area was contracted for use to Wesco Salvage.He said he had visited the site of the incident, but could not comment on the damage caused to the vessel.