Around a hundred people working in the port of Antwerp (Belgium) had to be rescued after a leak of hydrofluoric acid observed on a cargo ship, an incident which continued to disrupt traffic on Wednesday on this major platform for world trade.
On Wednesday morning, the leak was “stabilized”, but 28 workers among the hundred who had to receive treatment were still hospitalized, said the municipality of Beveren, where the incident occurred, on the left bank of the Scheldt.
Hydrofluoric acid is a highly corrosive substance used by the chemical industry, the fumes of which can cause illness.
According to local authorities, the leak was noticed Tuesday evening on a container of an MSC cargo ship moored in one of the port’s main terminals, the Deurganck Dock.
An emergency medical plan was triggered and a total of 127 people were slightly injured.
Most of these workers were quickly able to leave the hospital, but 28 of them with more serious symptoms were kept “under observation”, the municipality of Beveren-Kruibeke-Zwijndrecht said in a press release.
The port authority operating the second largest freight port in Europe (after Rotterdam) had to set up a crisis unit.
On Wednesday morning, maritime traffic remained suspended near the Deurganck Dock, on this part of the left bank of the Scheldt where ships and cargo ships coming from the high seas converge.
“Specialized teams are standing by to remove the container from the ship. To this end, a recovery tank filled with lime is being brought on board. The container will then be sealed and evacuated safely,” the port authority, which operates both the Antwerp and Zeebrugge maritime platforms, said on its website on Wednesday morning.
According to the specialized site Vessel Finder, the container ship Mia Summer II of the company MSC, flying the Liberian flag, arrived Monday evening in the port of Antwerp from Felixstowe in the United Kingdom.
