Tanker blast at Turkish port kills 1 Italian crew, operations continue (updated)

Petkim Petrokimya Holding

02/07/2019 14:00

(Adds SOCAR statement saying operations continue)
    ANKARA, July 2 (Reuters) - An explosion on an LPG tanker
killed an Italian crew member and injured 15 others at the port
of Aliaga in Turkey's western Izmir province late on Monday but
work at the petrochemical plant has continued, its operator
said.
    The vessel was anchored at harbour at Petkim  PETKM.IS 
petrochemical plant operated by the Azerbaijani state oil
company SOCAR.
    Italian crew member Roberto Montegurdia died in the
incident, Aliaga province's sub-Governor Erhan Gunay told
reporters. All injured personnel had been discharged from
hospital, SOCAR later said.
    "At Petkim Pier 5 around 23:20 (2020 GMT), a fire broke out
due to an unspecified reason during the connection to the
Italian flagged Synzania for the filling of liquid
hydrocarbons," Petkim said in a statement.
    "As a result of the immediate intervention of our teams, the
fire was extinguished and cooling work on the ship is
continuing," it added.
    SOCAR said an investigation into the fire was ongoing.
Operations at the Petkim plant and SOCAR's STAR refinery were
continuing, it said.
    "Neither Petkim, nor STAR were closed for investigation. All
facilities at Petkim continue operating as usually. The vessel
on which the accident happened does not belong to SOCAR," SOCAR
said in a statement.

 (Reporting by Ece Toksabay; Editing by Jonathan Spicer and
Dominic Evans)
 ((ece.toksabay@tr.com; +90 312 2927022; Reuters Messaging:
ece.toksabay.reuters.com@reuters.net))