A fire has broken out at a shipbreaking plot a year after an explosion on the same vessel killed 31 people.
Shipbreaking plot no. 54 in Gadani, Pakistan, was sealed off earlier this week after a large blaze broke out on-board the ship ACES.
The same floating oil production tanker blew up on 1 November last year – an explosion that caused the death of 31 workers and seriously injured at least another 58 workers.
Early reports suggest no one was injured as a result of the latest incident.
The Pakistan Department of Environment gave permission last week for the continued shipbreaking of the ACES.
However on the very first day that the breaking commenced, a massive fire broke out again as the oil residues inside the tanker had not been removed.
The NGO Shipbreaking Platform aims to prevent the dangerous pollution and unsafe working conditions caused when end-of-life ships containing toxic materials are freely traded in the global marketplace.
Dr Muhammad Irfan Khan from the organisation said: “Clearly, no lessons have been learnt from the series of tragedies that have hit Gadani in the last year
“More investments are sorely needed to ensure institutional capacity build-up. For the industry to be allowed to continue operating in Pakistan, authorities need to guarantee the protection of shipbreaking workers and the enforcement of existing environmental regulations.”
The major blast on November 1, 2016, was dubbed the worst tragedy in shipbreaking history and caused by several gas cylinder explosions.