Two workers killed in cruise ship explosion in Bahamas

Two cruise ship engineers have been killed in an explosion in the Bahamas early on Friday 22 March. This report contains upsetting details.

The incident occured in an engineering space on the Holland America Lines liner, the Nieuw Amsterdam, where the pair had been working while the ship was docked in Half Moon Cay. Identified as Joseph Terrado, from the Phillipines, and Wawan Gusnawan, from Indonesia, they had been “installing filters when a steam compensator unrelated to their duties exploded,” according to maritime lawyer, Jim Walker.

Trapped, suffocated and scalded

A “thermal expansion joint” inside the compensator malfunctioned, resulting in a “catastrophic explosion”. Other staff reportedly evacuated, sealing the doors and ventilation on their way out, but the two fellow workers remained inside. Their bodies were found close to the hydraulic doors, which they could not use to escape as they could not open them manually from the inside. With no breathing devices supplied, the workers died from suffocation due to the lack of oxygen, as well as scalds from the jets of 180-degree-Celsius steam.

“They were trapped in the space,” Walker said. “They apparently suffocated due to the lack of oxygen and hot steam (180 degrees Celsius) which overwhelmed them. Their bodies were located near the closed doors.”

Captain in tears

The captain was “audibly crying” when he informed passengers in a sombre message over loudspeakers, cruise passenger Laine Doss told ABC News. “It was shocking,” she said. “He asked for a moment of silence.”

In a statement issued on Facebook, the Holland America Line said, “appropriate authorities” had been notified and “the cause of the incident is currently being investigated.” Offering thoughts and prayers to all those affected, the cruise line said its priority remained the “safety, security and welfare” of all passengers and crew, and that “counselling services” would be made available to anyone requiring them.

Another cruise ship fire

In a separate incident, a fire broke out on board the Bahamas-bound Carnival Freedom cruise ship on Saturday, as it sailed near Eleuthera Island, Bahamas en route to freeport, with some initial reports blaming lightning.

The fire occured on the ship’s port side exhaust funnel around 3:15 pm local time, according to a Carnival Cruise Line statement, and part of the funnel actually fell off during the blaze, causing worse damage than initially thought. The fire was brought under control within a couple of hours, and passengers, who had been told to remain in the cabins while the incident was dealt with, were able to have dinner as planned in Freeport.