Incident on board of FPSO in transit on Vanguard

Papendrecht, 9 January 2020 

‎Earlier this week, an incident occurred on board of the FPSO which is currently being transported by the Vanguard from China to Brazil. During the journey a contractor, designated by the yard, is conducting preservation works on board of the FPSO. These works are part of the pre-delivery activities by the yard before the FPSO is delivered to the operator in Brazil later this month. Six persons employed by the designated contractor, all with the Brazilian nationality, illegally consumed a cleaning liquid found on board of the FPSO.

This liquid is a substance customarily used for degreasing purposes, presumably containing a mixture of ethanol and the severely toxic methanol. The affected persons reported this to our crew approximately 36 hours after consumption at which point serious signs of illness were becoming apparent. Swift and immediate action was taken by our crew. The Vanguard changed course towards the coast of South Africa and a medical evacuation by helicopter was organized. Regrettably one of the affected individuals passed away before the medical assistance was on site. The remaining five persons were successfully evacuated, hospitalized in Durban, South Africa and are successfully recovering from the intoxication.

Boskalis expresses its deepest condolences to the family and loved ones of the deceased person.

Boskalis would like to stress that it has a strict zero tolerance policy with regard to alcohol on its offshore vessels. The FPSO and Vanguard have recently resumed their journey to Brazil.

Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. is a leading global services provider operating in the dredging, maritime infrastructure and maritime services sectors. The company provides creative and innovative all-round solutions to infrastructural challenges in the maritime, coastal and delta regions of the world. With core activities such as coastal defense, riverbank protection and land reclamation Boskalis is able to provide adaptive and mitigating solutions to combat the effects of climate change, such as extreme weather conditions and rising sea levels, as well as delivering solutions for the increasing need for space in coastal and delta regions across the world. The company facilitates the development of offshore energy infrastructure, including renewable wind energy. Boskalis is furthermore active in the construction and maintenance of ports, waterways, access channels and civil infrastructure, thus helping to facilitate trade flows and regional socio-economic development. In addition, Boskalis is a global marine salvage expert and has a number of strategic partnerships in harbor towage and terminal services (Keppel Smit Towage and Smit Lamnalco). With a versatile fleet of more than 700 vessels and floating equipment and 10,000 employees, including associates, Boskalis is creating new horizons around the world.

This press release can also be found on our website www.boskalis.com.