Dispute regarding state of ship at the time of the explosion
There has been some dispute taking place between the Port of Felixstowe and the "Manhattan Bridge". Allegedly, the Port was disputing that the vessel was alongside at the time of the explosion, thus indicating that the fatal accident occurred at sea rather than in the jurisdiction of the Port. The Port's own website states the vessel was all fast alongside at 11.12 p.m. on Jan 19. The explosion happened in the engine room of the vessel at around 11.05 p.m. according to media. The police and ambulance crews were called to the Trinity terminal at 11.45 p.m. to reports one person had died during the incident. If the vessel had yet to berth alongside this would explain the delay in their physical attendance. The vessel had swung 180 degrees, as normal, and was about to proceed stern-first to berth 7, when the explosion occurred, indicating that the vessel was 'at sea', not alongside. Felixstowe Port is the Statutory Harbour Authority for a strip of the waters running 50m off the berths - beyond that it is Harwich Haven Authority who do provide the pilotage and conservancy service right up to the quay, on behalf of Felixstowe. It looked like too much uncontrolled fuel was in the boiler combustion area at the time of flashing up. The boiler burner panel was blown completely from the boiler casing and allowed the searing heat of the burning fuel/air mixture to escape into the engine room, which caused the fatality and the injury. The ship was still in Felixstowe on Jan 21 with the MAIB investigation going on.
