OvV report - Divinylbenzene HP emission, LBC Tank Terminal BV, Botlek, 27 October 2007

At LBC Rotterdam B.V. in Rotterdam on 27 and 28 October 2007, because a tank container with Divinylbenzene HP (DVB HP) was mistaken for a tank container with Di-isopropanolamine (DIPA), the tank container was heated up. This led to a polymerization of divinylbenzene in the tank container. As a result of the polymerisation, an explosion occurred and a fire started. There are no victims of the explosion and fire. Four people on a boat in the harbour became unwell when they came into contact with the vapour/smoke cloud. They have been taken to hospital for treatment. The released vapour/smoke cloud was visible for miles around and the cloud drifted off in a northerly direction with the wind. 104 complaints were reported to DCMR's incident room. The people who reported had problems with the smell, their airways, burning eyes or were worried. Most complaints came from people living in Vlaardingen, but there were also complaints from places further away (including The Hague). Shipping traffic on the Nieuwe Maas and Nieuwe Waterweg and car traffic on Oude Maasweg were temporarily blocked.

Significance score:

Clarity:

Summary investigation report with lessons learned: - The direct cause of the tank container fire was the heating up of the tank container with DVB HP while it was assumed that there was another substance (DIPA) in the tank container. This was caused by entering the wrong product name for the tank container in the planning system. This was taken over in the logbook, which is used as a starting point for further handling of the tank container. There were no checks on the contents during the entire reheating process. When measuring the temperature with a measuring gun through the manhole, the difference between DVB HP and DIPA was not noticed. Furthermore, when the tank container arrived, the product label had been removed.

Target Group(s):

• HSE managers
• Site managers
• Strategic leadership
• Supervisors

Risk Theme:

• Monitoring and Learning - Learning from Incidents