US court judges freight forwarder and chemical maker responsible for MSC Flaminia deaths

In the second hearing of a potentially three phase case the US District Court for the Southern District of New York has reached a verdict appointing responsibility for the deaths, injuries and damage caused when the MSC Flaminia was struck by an explosion. The tragedy left the container vessel drifting for weeks after the crew abandoned ship. Now the manufacturer of the chemical cargo responsible, and the freight forwarder involved, have been found at fault for the incident.

The three tanks of divinylbenzene (DVB), a chemical used in plastics manufacture, had been stored on the New Orleans quayside for some days in the full glare of the sun. They were then situated within the hold adjacent to the vessel’s heated fuel tanks and beside another heated chemical, diphenylamine, all of which contributed to a higher ambient temperature within the hold.

When the DVB self-polymerised it gave off a cloud of smoky vapour which the crew naturally assumed emanated from a fire. The fire-fighting party flooded the hold with the CO2 but it appears in insufficient quantity to neutralise the effect of the vapour which was ignited.

The Court’s decision exonerated the ships owner, Conti, and both the vessel operator NSB, and ocean carrier MSC which were not at fault and bore no liability. Blame was laid at the door of cargo manufacturer Deltech and NVOCC Stolt Tank Containers B.V. of which 55% was adjudged to be the responsibility of the chemical manufacturer and 45% the freight forwarder.

2018/9/30 17:29:12