The two deceased workers were working in the engine room. Activists: “Concerned about the rush to dismantle the sector due to the pandemic”
An explosion killed two workers who were dismantling a Carnival cruise ship at an Aliaga scrapyard in Turkey.
According to NGO Shipbreaking Platform, Yilmaz Demir, 55, and Olguz Taskin, 30, were involved in a fire in the engine room as they scrapped Carnival Inspiration , the 70,000-gross-ton cruise ship built in 1996. Demir is died instantly, while Taskin died of his injuries. The incident occurred on July 12.
“Once the necessary investigations into the accident are completed, a detailed explanation of the tragedy will be shared with the public,” the construction site explained in a statement.
Race to the scrapping of cruise ships
The incident comes at a time when concerns are growing that Turkish shipyards are overworked after the pandemic forced companies to anticipate retirement plans for some of the older cruise ships.
The executive director of the NGO Shipbreaking, Ingvild Jenssen, said: “The accumulation of ships in Aliaga must not compromise the management of health and safety at work. Cruise ships are notoriously complex structures full of compartments and potentially deadly hazards that require a skilled workforce and time to disassemble ”.
