Contractor dies in Chilean wellboat tragedy
A contractor died and another suffered burns in an explosion and fire that occurred when they were carrying out maintenance work on a salmon industry wellboat in Chile.
The tragedy happened on Monday afternoon when the contractors were working on the bow of the Inter Austral, reports Fish Farming Expert’s Chilean sister site, Salmonexpert.cl.
The wellboat, a 51.5-metre-long vessel built in 2002, had been providing services for Salmones Austral in the Reloncaví Estuary, Llaguepe sector. It is operated by Intership Chile, a Chilean company linked to Norwegian wellboat operator Internship SA.
Investigating cause
Nicolás Mardones, general manager of Intership Chile, stated that the accident was terrible, as a contractor died as a result of the fire that broke out in a room of the wellboat.
“We deeply regret this tragedy and of course, we send our condolences to their families,” he said.
Mardones said the ship’s activities had been suspended until all the facts were clarified, adding that investigations were still being carried out to find the causes of the accident.
Chile Maritime Authority said that the reasons for the fatal accident are under an administrative summary investigation, by order of the Maritime Governor of Puerto Montt.
