XPLORER

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Explosion injured two, damaged boat

The Newquay Coastguard's helicopter crew has rescued two injured crew members from the "MTS Explorer" off the Cornish coast after an explosion of diving air cylinders in the afternoon of Oct 4, 2017. The UK Coastguard received a call from the vessel around 1 p.m. reporting they had had an explosion on board. A compressed air cylinder had exploded, while the ship was on its way to a commerical diving operation near Plymouth, and two of the three people on board were injured in the blast. The Royal Navy Fleet Auxiliary ship "Tidespring" and the fishery protection vessel "St. Piran" assisted with the rescue. Both casualties were airlifted to Derriford Hospital with one casualty reported to be in a serious condition. Peter Haskins, who lives near Mawnan Smith, was near dive bottles inside the survey vessel owned by Falmouth Divers Ltd based on Commercial Road, Penryn when one exploded. Shrapnel from the explosion caused serious injuries to his leg, face and hand. The surgeons managed to save his leg which had an open fracture. He also suffered broken ribs, shrapnel injuries to his face and a badly mangled hand. A crew member from the "St. Piran" was transferred to the casualty vessel by rib and helped a paramedic who had been lowered from the Coastguard rescue helicopter. The Fowey All Weather Lifeboat then towed the vessel into the port of Falmouth. Extensive damage was caused to the inside of the boat by the oxygen cylinder exploding which also set off a dry powder cylinder which filled the cabin with powder. The Falmouth assisted with the tow after taking the third uninjured man, Alistair Miller, to shore. The MTS "Agillity" took over the tow from Fowey RNLI having checked the condition of the remaining dive cylinders. The Fowey's RNLI crew was then released to return to the Lifeboat Station and The MTS "Agillity" towed the casualty vessel back to Falmouth. The Marine Accident Investigation Branch have been informed of this incident. Reports with photo and video: http://www.itv.com/news/westcountry/2017-10-04/coastguard-helicopter-rescues-two-injured-people-off-cornish-coast-after-explosion/ http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-cornwall-41502801 http://www.falmouthpacket.co.uk/news/15578428.Badly_injured_crewman_nearly_lost_leg_following_explosion_on_board_boat/

MTS Xplorer completes survey work

Marine and Towage Services Group’s vessel, the MTS Xplorer, has successfully completed 'as built' survey works. This was as part of marine cable installation activity conducted by contractor James Fisher at the pioneering Wave Hub site off the Cornwall coast. Wave Hub provides a dedicated testing location for innovative offshore renewable energy technology. Its purpose built transmission infrastructure enabling installed devices to export to the grid. - See more at: http://www.maritimejournal.com/news101/industry-news/mts-xplorer-completes-survey-work