The ''Spyros'' disaster was a major industrial

disaster A disaster is a serious problem occurring over a short or long period of time that causes widespread human, material, economic or environmental loss which exceeds the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own resources ...

that occurred in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

on 12 October 1978, where the

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tanker ''Spyros'' exploded at

Jurong Shipyard Jurong () is a major Region, geographical region located at the south-westernmost point of the West Region, Singapore, West Region of Singapore. Although mostly vaguely defined, the region's extent roughly covers the Planning Areas of Singapore, ...

, killing 76 people and injuring 69 others. It remains the worst accident, in terms of lives lost, in Singapore's post-war history. It is also Singapore's worst industrial accident.

Background

The ''Spyros'' was owned by Ulysses Tanker Corporation of

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean to its south and southwest. It ...

and operated by International Operations, SA. The Liberian-registered vessel was built by

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is a Japanese multinational engineering, electrical equipment and electronics corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. MHI is one of the core companies of the Mitsubishi Group and its automobile division is the predecessor of Mitsubishi Moto ...

of Japan in 1964 and was a steam turbine-driven tanker of 64,081 tons deadweight. On 6 October 1978, the ''Spyros'' arrived in Singapore for a full special survey and general repairs at Jurong Shipyard. One of the items for repair was the replacement of the missing cover for the drip tray of the vent pipe leading from the aft starboard fuel oil tank.

Explosion

At around 2:15 p.m., ''Spyros'' exploded. The explosion occurred as about 150 workers returned to the

engine An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power ...

and

boiler A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid (generally water) is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, centr ...

rooms of the vessel after their lunch break for repair and cleaning work. A number of the ship's 32

crew A crew is a body or a class of people who work at a common activity, generally in a structured or hierarchical organization. A location in which a crew works is called a crewyard or a workyard. The word has nautical resonances: the tasks involved ...

were also on board. The blast flung

debris Debris (, ) is rubble, wreckage, ruins, litter and discarded garbage/refuse/trash, scattered remains of something destroyed, or, as in geology, large rock fragments left by a melting glacier, etc. Depending on context, ''debris'' can refer t ...

from the 35,600-

tonne The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the short ton ( United State ...

vessel as far as 100 metres (328 ft) away and started a flash fire that prevented dockside workers from rescuing those trapped inside the ship.

Aftermath

Rescue works

Minutes after the accident, an extensive rescue operation swung into action, involving the police, military and medical services. All hospitals were alerted to be on stand-by for casualties. Rescue workers went into the ship's engine and boiler rooms to search for missing workers. Eight fire engines and ambulances rushed to the scene and after the fire was doused, more rescue workers poured into the ship to help the injured and remove the dead. The injured were ferried to hospital in ambulances and helicopters. The general public responded with hundreds of people donating blood to victims.

Casualties

The wounded were ferried by ambulance and

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to Alexandra Hospital and

Singapore General Hospital Singapore General Hospital (SGH) is an academic health science centre and tertiary referral hospital in Singapore. It is located next to the Bukit Merah and Chinatown districts of the Central Region, close to the Outram Community Hospital ...

. Most of those hospitalised suffered serious burns, with their conditions described as critical. Others, including four firemen, were treated for inhalation of

toxic Toxicity is the degree to which a chemical substance or a particular mixture of substances can damage an organism. Toxicity can refer to the effect on a whole organism, such as an animal, bacterium, or plant, as well as the effect on a subs ...

gas and shock. 57 workers died on the day of the accident while 19 died due to their injuries in hospitals. Of the 76 deaths, 70 were male, six were female. 69 other workers were injured.

Causes of accident

An inquiry found that safety practices were ignored when repairs were carried out on the vessel. Sparks from the cutting torch used during repairs caused a fire, which ignited an explosive vapour mixture within the aft starboard bunker (fuel) tank of the vessel. The fuel tank had been contaminated by crude oil. The explosion ruptured the common bulkhead between the tank and the engine room, releasing the burning oil into the engine room and setting it on fire, killing the workers there instantly.

Impact

After the accident, greater safety consciousness in the shipbuilding and repairing industry was enforced.

References

{{Reflist Explosions in 1978 1978 industrial disasters Transport disasters in Singapore Maritime incidents in Singapore Explosions in Singapore 1978 in Singapore Ship fires October 1978 events in Asia 1970s fires in Asia 1978 disasters in Asia 1978 fires 1978 disasters in Singapore