Government Shuts Down DSME After Accident

Published Nov 12, 2015 11:57 AM by The Maritime Executive

The South Korean government has ordered Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) to stop work on five of its ships under construction, following a fire earlier this week that killed one person and injured seven others.

The measure takes effect immediately, and will be kept in place until work safety is guaranteed on the ship that caught on fire on Tuesday and four tankers, the Ministry of Employment and Labor said.

This week’s fire broke out inside an LPG tanker possible as a result of a spark from a welder’s torch inside one of the tanks on the 85,000-ton tanker.

In August this year, two workers died and seven were injured in another fire at the yard. The fire reportedly started while the workers were welding inside a hull of an LPG carrier.

The ministry ordered eight days of work stoppage period at that time, but the punishment will be aggravated this time, Yonhap news reports an official as saying.

DSME held a committee meeting on Wednesday and plans to strengthen safety education for its workers, company officials said.