A container vessel at the Port of Antwerp-Bruges in Belgium recently suffered an onboard chemical spill, causing several workers present to become sick and require hospitalisation.
The port said in a press release that the incident occurred on Tuesday, July 14, when a container on board the Liberian-flagged MSC Mia Summer II suffered damage and began leaking hydrofluoric acid, a highly corrosive industrial chemical.
The workers who fell ill were given immediate medical care and were evacuated to various hospitals. Local emergency service agencies then deployed to the area and carried out air quality measurements and implemented measures to bring the situation safely under control.
As a precaution, the bridges over the nearby Kieldrecht Lock were closed, shipping traffic at the port was temporarily suspended, and the area around the affected quay was closed off.
At 08:30 local time on Wednesday, July 15, the port issued an update saying that the evaporation of hydrofluoric acid has decreased and that specialist teams have arrived to remove the leaking container from the ship.
All terminal operations have the port have since resumed except at the MSC PSA European Terminal. A safety perimeter has also been put in place but will be gradually lifted as soon as the leaking container has been safely transferred and further measurements have confirmed that there is no longer any risk.