An explosion occurred at an oil facility belonging to Gunvor Energy in the port of Rotterdam, resulting in one death and several injuries. The incident took place while technical maintenance was being performed on pipelines.
This was reported by USM — ports and shipping citing Reuters, according to the portal PromPolitInform.
The incident took place around 11:30 in the Europort area near an oil storage tank. At the time, a maintenance crew was working on the enterprise’s pipeline infrastructure.
Circumstances of the emergency at the oil terminal
Gunvor suggests that the detonation may have occurred during the disconnection of the pipelines. Visible damage to the storage tank structure was observed following the blast.
Local police have stated that there is currently no evidence of sabotage. Investigations are ongoing to determine the specific causes of the explosion.
Energy supply situation in port districts
Concurrently, a massive power outage occurred in the Botlek port area, causing the ExxonMobil refinery to temporarily cease operations. Additionally, a high-voltage substation caught fire in Maasvlakte.
Port administration officials have stated that the power outages and the explosion at the Gunvor facility are unrelated.
Illustrative photo: Rik Schuiling / TropCrop-TCS / Archive / CC BY-SA 3.0
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