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Engineroom explosion on the "Esso Norway (1)", August 24 st. 1964.
Special thanks to the following persons for their help :
George Ackinclose, Peter Davies, Captain S.T. Waite, David Hancox & Lloyd's.
Esso Norway - Voyage Record Cards. ( By George Ackinclose )
Another Eye witness. ( By Captain S.T. Waite, M.N.I.)
Another Eye witness (2) ( By Don Butler )
Re s.tank 'ESSO NORWAY ( By David Hancox )
From : "TUG", towage and Salvage Review. ( Published by L. Smit & Co's Internationale Sleepdienst. )
Foto's : C.J. Rom Colthoff.
Last August the British tanker Esso Norway met great trouble after an explosion in her engineroom. She made water and
was taken in tow until she grounded near Salala. The tanker's situation seemed hopeless, but still she was rescued and
safely delivered in Aden. Here is a report of the salvage as told by C.J. Rom Colthoff, one of our salvage inspectors.
Seemingly irretrievably lost .....
The coasts of Hadhramaut and Oman are empty and deserted. On our way from Holland to Salala we read in the pilot that
the population there may be unfriendly towards strangers. When we arrived at the spot where the tanker Esso Norway was
stranded and when we saw her position one mile from the beach with her stem resting on the bottom, we could only hope
that the population would not interfere with our work. The job looked difficult enough without interference !
The explosion in her engineroom had punctured her stern shellplating and whilst she was sinking deeper and deeper the
Danish salvage vessel Svitzer had taken her in tow until she grounded. Smit and Svitzer were contracted for the salvage.
There was a 15 feet swell and the aftership of the Esso Norway was being heavily pounded by the seas. Every day in the
first week the crews of the Hudson and Svitzer noted that more damage to the tanker's superstructure was being done.
One day a lifeboat was carried away and the next day a steel cover on her afterdeck had disappeared.
Nevertheless plans were developed and preparations made to tackle this challenging job. With the prevailing swell even
the launching of our motorboats and the boarding of the vessel proved real undertakings.
Local weather experts assured us however that in four weeks the sea would be as smooth as a mirror and with that in
mind we started the work.
All around the Esso Norway oil was floating and there was a strong smell of gas, but after a week this diminished and the
seas which broke across the afterdeck got more and more their natural beautiful green and white colors.
We had come to the conclusion that our aim should be the afterpumproom where there were the stripperpumps of the
ship some 60 feet under water. If we could only have a little bit of luck and find that pumproom still more or less watertight!
For the moment the seas were still sweeping over the skylight of this pumproom and nobody could even approach it at
close distance. When would the weather improve? In the meantime preparations were made, dogs and ullagelids secured,
the catwalk gratings secured and attempts made to close openings in the tanklids under water from which oil was coming
out and which had to be closed before later pumping could be commenced.
We all realized that it would be a long term job and we would need power, power in the form of air pressure to drive pumps.
We could not use dieselpumps anywhere on this gas enveloped ship.
Here the tug Mississippi came to our relief, she was directed to Aden, 600 miles away and she was loaded with compres-
sors, airpumps. provisions and fresh water.
After ten days the sea condition improved a bit. We now had only an average of six feet swell which allowed us to reach
the pumproom-skylight and advantage was taken of this good spell to construct a heavy cofferdam around the skylight.
Now it was a matter of pumping to see if the water-level in this compartment would go down.
We took the chance of using dieselpumps and a pump which was driven by a small compressor on the foredeck. After
half an hour pumping, it could definitely be seen that the water had dropped and this meant that we had some good luck
to start with. In three days the pumproom was almost out, her leakages patched and plugged and her interior showing
to us as a shining black oilstained compartment. Now the stripperpumps, "connect them and you are in business", was
somebody's slogan. Hoses were connected and lead to the deck and were there connected to other hoses and pipes.
And then the Mississippi arrived. She went to Ras Risut in fact the only anchorage in the neighborhood. where we
could transfer the heavy gear from the Mississippi to the Svitzer as it rendered some shelter from the seas. Now we
could even pump cargo with the stripperpumps after the water had been pumped out of the tanks. What a hopeful
thought! We did pump out water, a lot of water, but then came the day that our carefully built up cofferdam was
smashed to pieces again, the pumproom filled up again leaving some diesel-pumps under water.
The southwest monsoon had not yet abated, another four days of bad seas.
Again a cofferdam was pre-fabricated and on September 28 it was transported above the afterdeck on a wire and ulti-
mately lowered in one piece over the skylight. Pumping was resumed, the level went down again and in the end we
saw the tops of the stripperpumps again, however only from the top of the pumproom as now there was 100 %
explosive gas down below. Nobody knew where the oil and the gas came from but it was there.
This is salvage, add up a lot of misfortunes and you arrive at, no not a fortune, but simply at the satisfaction of having
a salvage successfully completed. From now on the work down in the pumproom had to be done by men carrying
breathing apparatus. Be careful, don't drop your steel hammer! Now the pumping of water' from the tanks was con-
tinued and when that was finished attention was paid to engineroom and boilerroom. Divers examined her shellplating
and various seaconnections and holes were patched. Pumping was commenced on the engineroom, on the boiler-
room and in the steeringflat.
How much damage there would be under water in these compartments was still uncertain. Though what we could
see was already fairly convincing, that there would be no bulkheads left undamaged. Even pumping a thousand tons
per hour did not make the water-level go down. In the meantime we had also discovered that the rudder was missing,
the propeller damaged and that there was damage under the sterntube extending forward. But to examine the bottom
we would have to get the ship afloat. Well, she could float now and we moved her stern first to sea.
The divers went down leaving us all anxiously waiting on deck following their bubbles along the side from forward
to aft, first on starboard then on port. After a while they came up and what they reported crushed our hopes of being
able to deliver the ship to her owners with a complete watertight aftership.
Oh yes, the ship floated alright, her tanks were not leaking anymore, but her draft was still about 58 feet.
We decided to tow her in this condition to Aden where she could be discharged. In five days the Hudson and Svitzer
towed her to Aden and four weeks later she was lying high and empty in the bay awaiting her owners' decision over
her future.
MT "Mississippi", 2 Smit-MAN Diesel-engines each 2000 SHP, L. Smit & Co's, Internationale Sleepdienst.
Build by 8 juni 1960 by J. & K. Smit, Kinderdijk, brt 674 ton, l.o.a 53.56 m, beam 10.02 m, draft 4.61 m.
Speed 15.0 knots.
Was this salvage really as simple as is described above?
Perhaps not, but why bring up the memories of all the small tiring jobs, the dirty and oil smeared working area etc.
But we had for several days two playing whales around the ship and once when the divers had just pulled them-
selves in the motorboot and went away from alongside, a whale surfaced ten feet in front of the boat. Full astern
and they kept free from the happily waving tailfin.
Did he want to say hello to his fellow divers ??
One of our crew members in breeches-buoy sliding along the steel-wire, fiying to seal off tanklids.
Awaiting an appropriate moment to reach the pumping room.
Stern part of casualty almost entirely awash.
Even at low water it was difficult to work on the after deck.
The cofferdam was smashed to pieces by heavy seas. Usuier difficult circumstances the cofferdam had to be built up
again. Some men are standing up to the waist in the water. Another man took his position somewhat higher to report
heavy rollers. "No smoking allowed", a strange prohibition on a blackened background.
"Esso Noway" in drydock at Genova, Damaged propeller, rudder and bottom.
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Esso Norway - Voyage Record Cards.( Thanks to George Ackinclose )
These notes were copied from the Voyage Record Cards in the Guildhall Library, London.
Note: I have put the cards in date order - they don't seem to be numbered correctly.
Card 4, 1964, second side.
Aug 20/21 Ras Tanura.
*Aug 25th, Oct 21st, Aden Oct 12.
(the * indicates an incident or damage occurrence and the date is the date that the report was received ie the incident
happened on the 24th but the report was received on the 25th)
Card 2 first side, 1964
Aug 24 16.35N 54.57E explosion and fire in engine room.
25/8 Fire extinguished now about 620m East of Aden, in tow.
26/8 Off Bandar Risut.
27/8 Beached 16.59N 54.17E
31/8 Salvage.
Card 3 first side, 1964 continued
Sep 1 Salvage vessel standing by re crew.
Sep 2 same.
Sep 4 weather hampering salvage.
Sep 5 situation of casualty.
Sep 5-6 Salvage ops.
Sep 16 Tug assisting.
Note:- the 1st and 2nd sides of card 4 seem to be written the wrong way around ie side 2 is the earliest.
Card 4, 1964, first side:- Esso Norway, built 1961, Hamburg.
Oct 8th re salvage operations and damage. 16.2N 53.6E.
Oct 9th 14.54N 51.20E.
Oct 12th 12.40N 45.26E, bound Aden.
Oct 13th Arrived Aden in tow.
Oct 21st Cargo discharge.
Feb 23rd discharge of cargo and disposition of vessel.
Jun 16th Sold “as is”.
Jun 28th Sailed in tow from Aden.
Jul 8th arr. Suez.
Jul 11th sailed Port Said in tow.
Jul 22nd arrived Genoa in tow.
Card 5, 1965
Sailed Aden June 28 in tow;
Suez July 8;
Port Said July 11;
Genoa July 22/Aug 25;
La Spezia Aug 26.
Sep 27 sold to Liberian buyers.
Nov 30 broke mooring lines Genoa on Nov 29.
Feb 7 - contact with Mare Nostrum.
Dec 9 - sold.
Other notes written on the card:-
Renamed “Long Phoenix” 29/10/70.
Sold LSI 27/9/66 to be renamed “Norway”. (LSI 7/10/68)
(not taken by LSI, believed erroneous.)
There is also a set of books called “ Lloyds Weekly Casualty Reports”.
Each year has 4 volumes - one for each quarter. All ships which have been involved in damage are reported in
these volumes.
The reports often appear long after the incidents take place and further reports for the same incident may occur
months later and continue for many months.
Lloyds Weekly Casualty Reports 1964 - 3:-
Aug 24 Esso Norway 16.35N 54.57E. explosion in e.r. SOS. 68 mls S.E. of Salala. J. Petrie - Master.
Esso Salisbury 13 hr steaming away had been diverted to the scene.
Crew abandoned ship except Master, 1st and 2nd Mates, Chief Eng and 2nd Eng.
Picked up by HMS Anzio. 3 crew missing.
Aug 27 beached at 16.59N 54.17E 1 ½ miles offshore.
Lloyds Weekly Casualty Reports 1965 - 1
Another entry I found when looking for Esso Lincoln reports was:-
Esso Norway - London, Feb 22. In reply to inquiry, Lloyds Agents at Aden write under date of Feb 17: the cargo
on board the tank steamer Esso Norway, consisting of 44,533 net tons of crude oil, was discharged into motor
tanker Evgenia for discharge at the BP oil refinery tanks at Little Aden.
The Evgenia made four trips. Since that time, the Esso Norway has been lying in the outer harbour at Aden
awaiting a decision as what is to be done with her.
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Another Eye witness.At the time of ESSO NORWAY's accident I was Second Mate aboard ESSO YORK, and saw her tying at anchor
of Aden. As I recollect the story the initia! trouble was started when the weld of main condenser inlet pype attachinq
it to the shell plating failed, due to cavitation, allowing tons of water to enter the engine-room. I understand that welding
condenser inlet pipes to the shell was common practice with shps classed with American Bureau, while Lloyd's
Register insisted that the connection was made with a flanged coupling.
With tons of water entering the engine-room it was befieved that the ship was likely to sink by the stern and so it was
decided to drop cargo out of 11 across tanks. Unfortunately the oil was drawn into the enqine-room, An Engineer
Officer, the Third I befieve, incredibly bravery entered the engine-room and swam through the oil to isolate some sort
of equpment.
The fire was started when an attempt was made to start the emergency generator, causing a spark to ignite the gases
in the enqine-room causing an explosion. One person was kill[ed, an Assistant Steward, who was looking down the
fiddley skylight when the explosion occurred.
The shp was built by Howaldswerke Hamburg in 1961 and was owned by Standard Tankers (Bahamas) Co. Ltd. In
1966 the owners changed, the new ones being Cosmopolitan Shipping Co. AS., and again in 1967 with the owners
given as the Phillips Shipping Corporation, but with the name being retained, indicating that they were subsidiary
companies of Esso.
The ship dissapeared from Lloyd's Register in 1969-1970.
Captain S.T. Waite, M.N.I.
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Another Eye witness (2)Dear Auke,
As I said in my earlier mail, I have only just come across your website of the ESSO NORWAY explosion report and find it
very interesting. I would like however to correct a few mistakes made in the reports. I do have first hand knowledge of the
incident as I was the senior engineer in charge of the watch at the start of the incident. I was Junior Second Engineer in
charge of the 4/8 engineering watch.
The events leading up to the explosion are more or less as it is shown in your web page. I was first on the scene when
the flooding started in the lower engine room and started shutting all the shipside valves serving the main condenser. I
could see the approximate location of the incoming water, just beside the main sea water circulating pump. Other
engineers soon arrived to help. The auxiliary condenser sea water circulating pump was also running as the main
condenser was dirty so needed additional water supply. By the time we got around to shutting the auxiliary condenser
sea water intake, it was under water and the Junior Engineer who was killed, Arthur Lee, was under the water closing
the valve. He was later awarded a posthumous medal for his bravery.
Although we got all the sea suctions closed, the overboard discharge valve of the main condenser was jammed wide
open and was never closed. It was on the water line and it was through this valve that the sea water entered the engine
room and, eventually, so did the cargo oil that was jettisoned.
The Captain had ordered the Pumpman to jettison the cargo as he believed that the vessel was sinking due to the
flooding of the engine room.
We evacuated the engine room due to it becoming impossible to breathe with the gas emanating from the incoming oil.
The Senior Second Engineer however ordered a watch to be kept on the rising water level, so the engineers had to
maintain a check on the rising level and the Second organized a rota for this.
Arthur Lee, a Junior Engineer, was down the engine room when the explosion occurred and must have been killed imme-
diately.
After the explosion a huge fire erupted in the engine room and the Captain ordered to take to the lifeboats; nobody was left
on board. The fire quickly spread into the aft accommodation and this was completely destroyed as we later saw. The
captain was the last to leave and I was in this lifeboat at the engine controls. The whole crew, apart from those missing,
was taken on board HMS Anzio. Two of the injured were transferred to a passing Italian passenger vessel that had a
doctor on board and were treated there. They were eventually dropped off in Aden to await the arrival of the rest of the
crew.
Tugs Svitzer and another of Smit, must have been Hudson, arrived to assist with the salvage operation.
The ship was taken under tow by HMS Anzio and not the tug Svitzer and this was maintained for a few days. The tugs
arrived later, arranged from Esso head office. The seas were very rough due to it being the monsoon period in the Arabian
Sea and Anzio was unable to hold Norway. The towline was cut loose and Norway was swept onto the beach where she
grounded stern first.
It is interesting to note that two whales were later at the scene of the salvage. These same two whales had played around
Anzio for two days whilst she was towing Norway.
The Chief Mate and myself, Junior Second Engineer were transferred to the Danish tug Svitzer to assist them with the
preliminary salvage operation, and Anzio continued her voyage to Aden. We were unable to get on board until the monsoon
had abated, about two weeks later and, around 5th or 6th September we managed to board Norway. We immediately found
the junior engineer floating in the engine room, retrieved the body, wrapped him up in canvas and towed him out to deeper
water, fitted heavy weights on the wrapping and gave him a burial at sea.
We saw that the entire top of the engine room had blown off in the explosion and the fire had raged through the aft accom-
modation.
It very soon became obvious that the present facilities were of no use and that heavier equipment was needed. Myself and
the First Mate were therefore able to travel back home, myself being transported by a British Army plane from Salalah, and
the Mate by the same method later. It must have been around this time when the Smit inspector was sent out and the sub-
sequent arrival of the bigger tug Mississippi.
Someone has reported that the initial cause of the water intake was from a pipe, which is incorrect. The discharge from the
main condenser sea water circulating pump was via a 26 inches diameter cast iron gate valve. This valve had just disinte-
grated due to some latent defect so there was no way that this could have been prevented or resolved. This was discover-
ed when the engineroom was pumped dry in Aden. An order was later passed around the whole of the Esso fleet to encase
the same valve in their ship in a cement box as a precautionary measure in other Esso ships.
The rest of the report is very interesting as I had been advised that Norway had been towed to Greece where she was cut
up for scrap.
As reported three people died as the result of the incident, the Junior Engineer who was down the engine room at the time,
the catering boy who, apparently, was on the upper deck over the engine room at the same time and a donkeyman who was
found inside his cabin when the ship was in Aden. There was another casualty, the Chief Engineer who had suffered from
stomach ulcer. The incident must have worried him so much and this ulcer burst and he died whilst being operated upon in
hospital.
There was an enquiry held in the offices of Esso in London, attended and overseen by two inspectors from the
Board of Trade, the body responsible for safety aspects of all British registered ships. The result of this enquiry
held no one responsible for the incident.
Don Butler.
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Re: s.tank 'ESSO NORWAY" - Explosion/fire following stranding on Hadramaut Coast, 1964. Salvage operations by Em Z. Svitzer / L.Smit & Co's Internationale Sleepdienst.
Regarding your enquiry, published in the "READER TO READER" COLUMN ON PAGE 49 OF SHIPS MONTHLY -
May 2005 issue, I believe I have some information that may be of use. At the time of ESSO NORWAY's accident I
was "Searnan/Purnprnari" aboard a similar sized, near-sister tanker, built from the same basic plans as ESSO NORWAY".
It has since become my understanding that ESSO NORWAY was a "once-off" ship in Esso's UK fleet, being German-built
and substantially different to most other Esso UK fleet vessels. In fact the ESSO NORWAY does not appear in Mitchell and
Sawyer's book "Sailing Ship to Supertanker", published by Terence Dalton ltd. in 1987.
The following is a summary of what I know about ESSO NORWAY and her accident.
1. "ESSO NORWAY" - Particulars.
Built in 1961 by HOWALDTSWERKE, Hamburg A.G. for STANDARD TANKERS (Bahamas) Co. ltd, Nassau, Bahamas.
Registered (by barebaat charterers) in London.
29,900 tons GRT, 46,000 tons dwt. Dimensions: I.a.a. 740 ft
beam 102.25 ft
depth 48.90 ft
draft 37.75 ft
No doubt Standard Tankers (Bahamas) Co. Ltd. of Nassau was an Esso or Esso/Standard subsidiary. Economic consi-
derations were probably responsible for a Bahaman-owned German-built tanker being placed under a British registration
by her barebaat charterers.
2. According to my notes of ESSO NORWAY incident, that vessel broadcast an emergency signalon 24th August 1964.
At that time she was off the Hadramaut coast near AI Salalah (island) and drifting ashore after an explosion and fire in
her engine room. The near-sister vessel, on which I was Seaman/Pumpman, was outward bound from Gulf with four
grades of cargo consigned to Royal Navy.
Our cargo was to be transhipped at sea and/or in port to Royal Fleet Auxiliary tankers.
Our nominal "head-charterers", BP, sent a telegram to our Master, ordering us to deviate towards AI Sulalah. Our ship's
Master protested to our owners, and Royal Navy, that as we were 80% fully-loaded, there was little we could usefully do
to assist. Although I was the junior of the two Seaman/Pumpmen I had - for some very odd reason - a very good "head"
for oil cargo calculations. The Master had called me to the bridge with our Chief Mate, for calculating what cargo space
we could make available. The short answer was "nothing" because we had four grades of "product"
Heavy furnace fuel oil
Marine "dieso" boiler fuel
AvCat/jet fuel power kerosene
High speed diesil oil
on board, aggregating about 41,000 ts dwt. Allowing for two valve separation, and standard ullages, there was no way we
could do anything for Esso with the NORWAY's cargo. I also suspect that our Master was very reluctant to become involv-
ed in what he saw as a purely "Esso problem".
3. I recall that we made some notional diversion, but no effort to increase speed from say 14 knots, or put any more burners
into the boilers. At the time we were easily capable of probably 17 knots (loaded) on 22,500 S.H.P. from our Escher Wyss
turbines at 90% boiler output. Several vessels had answered ESSO NORWAY's emergency signals, including ESSO
SALISBURY, so our Master probably felt quite justified in his actions.
We subsequently received orders by telegram on 25 August to proceed at "chartered speed" of 14 knots for our first RFA
fuel transfer off East Africa. We passed quite close to ESSO NORWAY, but no effort was made to stop as far as I can recall.
4. Our Master's objections to assisting ESSO NORWAY appeared to me, anyway, as being a combination of factors including:
(i) Our ship was only notionally British, i.e. we were Bermudanregistered, for charter purposes to BP/RN.
(ii) We were manned by non-British officers, eith South African or Australian, with South African "Cape Coloured" crew.
(iii) Any publicity would inevitably reveal that despite "apartheid bans" etc. the British Sec. of State for Defence chartered
vessels with substantially South-African ownership.
(iv) Bringing a big, fully-loaded "product tanker" into the developing "scrum" around "ESSO NORWAY" was really danger-
ous to us.
So we proceeded on our way south to Mozambique Channel.
5. I know there was a British marine enquiry into the accident. The reasons for the engine-room explosion were quickly
made known to us. Obviously our owners, with two near-sister ships, were concerned, and must have had influence some-
where to get the information. Basically what our senior officers, and we two pumpmen, were told was that "ESSO NORWAY"
sustained an engine room flooding problem, caused by a shell fitting carrying away. To lighten the vessel crude oil was being
jettisoned through her pumproom sea valve (s). Some of that jettisoned crude was drawn into the engine-room, where it
"gassed-off" and exploded in contact with her boilers.
The relevance to our two near-sister vessels was that both would be prone to exactly the same sea-chest "problem" as caus-
ed by "ESSO NORWAY's" initial problem. Consequently it was made a rule on our vessels that all jettison of surplus cargo
residues, tank-washing "tops" and sludgy liquids went out through our 1 0 inch stern discharge line at all times. A bigger
crane was fitted to the stern catwalk, the standard flange on the stern line was replaced bya NATO spool, and a second
(hydraulic) valve, operable only from pumphouse control room was fitted on the stern discharge line.
Our sister vessel subsequently did have a similar problem to ESSO NORWAY, which did not flood her engine room.
6. Somewhere in a box of papers in this house I have a copy of the formal British enquiry into ESSO NORWAY's accident.
Whether that can be located before I mail this letter to you is a matter of pure luck. However I am sending a copy of this
letter/enclosures to one of my salvage colleagues, who is an ex Esso engineer cadet and ex Chief Engineer on VLCC's.
He knows much more about the actual cause of ESSO NORWAY's accident than myself. If, as I am sure there is, some-
thing incorrect in my explanation of ESSO NORWAY's accident, Donald will correct what I have written. At the time I was
only 21 years old and my notes are probably not all that accurate. I was only a young person with limited technical
knowledge.
Obviously ESSO NORWAY was assisted by salvors. I enclose copies of English and Dutch language summaries of the
salvage operation. The salvage matters are copied from Smit Internationale's house journals:
"De Sleeptros" (Dutch) and "Tug" (English-language).
Later in life I worked on several occasions with Mr. Colthoff, the Smit Salvage Inspector who was in charge of "ESSO
NORWAY" operations. I liked Rom Colthoff, and thought he was a very capable tanker Salvage Master.
I trust the foregoing, and the enclosed material, will go some way to answering your questions about what happened
to "ESSO NORWAY".
David Hancox.
By way of "P.S.".
The attached extract from "Lloyd's Medals 1836 - 1989" shows that Jnr. Engineer. C.D. Wallace of "ESSO NORWAY"
received Lloyds Bronze Medal for bravery. The summary of ESSO NORWAY's accident/reasons etc. is more accurate
than my "recollections" as written ln paragraph 5 above.
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Lloyd's Medals.Medals awarded by The Corporation of Lloyd's.
On August 21st. 1964 the steam tanker "Esso Norway" having loaded 46,413 tons of crude oil, sailed from Ras Tanura for
Augusta.
On August 24th. the vessel was off the South Arabian coast, in the vicinity of Salala. A south westerly monsoon was blow-
ing with winds up to force six. At about 7 a.m. the engine room was found to be flooding very rapidly. Despite strenuous ef-
forts by the engine room staff, who were working under great difficulty, it was not possible to arrest the flooding, so the
boilers were shut off, together with all machinery, except that required for emergency use.
As it appeared likely to the Master that the "Esso Norway" was in danger of foundering he ordered the life-boats to be pre-
pared for launching. In addition he ordered the jettisoning of part of the cargo so as to counter the flooding. Some while later
part of the jettisoned oil found its way into the engine room through the original souree of the flooding and the engine room
staff, who were by w on the main platform, noticed a strong gas concentration. By about 8:45 a.m. this had become so
streng that the engine room had to be evacuated.
At approximately 9: 15 a.m. there was a violent explosion in the engine room. This was possibly caused by the residual
heat left in some of the main machinery, igniting the petroleum vapour concentration which had built up. The after crew
accommodation was almost completely wrecked and a major fire was started within the poop area. Three members of
the crew were killed, four were seriously injured, and two slightly injured.
Shortly after the explosion an S.O.S. signal was transmitted; the injured received attention; the sea valves in the pump
room were closed; the life-boats were launched; and all hands left the vessel.
A number of members of the crew were singled' out for special commendation by Esso Petroleum Company Limited,
including the following:
Junior Engineer C.D. Wallace. To assist an injured rating who had been trapped in the accommodation it was necessary
for someone to be lowered over the side of the vessel at the end of a line, in order to tie a rescue line around the man.
The "Esso Norway" was rolling heavily, beam on to a long swell. Mr. Wallace volunteered for the assignment and, as a
result of his efforts, the rating was rescued.
Junior Engineer C.D. Wallace receiving his medal.
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