A 2025 explosion that killed the chief engineer on a sludge vessel in New York City was set off by “unapproved hot work” above a cargo tank with flammable methane gas, the National Transportation Safety Board reported.
The Hunts Point was moored at the North River Wastewater Treatment Plant on the Hudson River when the tank exploded around 10:20 a.m. May 24, 2025. The ignition of the gas overpressurized the cargo tank; the blast blew the chief engineer off the deck, inflicted injuries on three other crew and caused $10 million in vessel damage, the NTSB said.
The 288.7’ Hunts Point was one of five sludge vessels the city Department of Environmental Protection used to transport liquid sludge each day from six wastewater treatment facilities to the Wards Island Wastewater Treatment Plant, located on the East River. The vessel had six cargo tanks and could transport up to 140,000 cu. Ft. (1 million gals.) of liquid sludge…