The Ministry of Defence has launched an investigation following an incident aboard the M940 Oostende, a new minehunter, at Zeebrugge docks (West Flanders) on Tuesday evening. Speaking in the Federal Parliament on Wednesday morning, the Belgian Defence Minister Theo Francken (Flemish nationalist) confirmed that a “remarkable” incident had occurred aboard the vessel.
Investigation underway following incident with Belgian Navy’s new minehunter at Zeebrugge docks
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At around 7.30pm on Tuesday evening smoke was noticed aboard the M940 Oostende minehunter. The brand-new navy ship only left dry dock on Monday. According to Mr Francken, the ship’s Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) installation is overheated. The SCR is part of the ship’s exhaust system.
Although there was no fire, there was a lot of (non-toxic) smoke. Mr Francken told the Defence Select Committee that the Bruges Fire Service was able to cool off the SCR and the vessel didn’t sustain any damage and the ship’s crew are safe.
Technical experts from the Defence Ministry will look into the exact cause of what Mr Francken describes as a remarkable incident. He also made reference to recent acts of sabotage in Germany.
On Tuesday 2 men were arrested followed an attempt to sabotage a navy ship at the port of Hamburg. “‘We now need to thoroughly investigate what, who and how. I expect there to be more news on this in the coming days”, Mr Francken said.