Mysterious explosion

The explosion on board the Simshar could have been caused by a leaking source of gas, like LPG, coming into contact with an ignition source, according to chemical expert Alfred Vella.

The explosion could only be explained by Prof. Vella by disregarding Simon Bugeja's statement that the LPG tanks were on the bridge because the explosion was likely caused by accumulated gas.

In his second version of events, Mr Bugeja had said there had been an explosion followed by a second that threw the men and child into the water.

Prof. Vella said it was possible that first a container with flammable fluid exploded inside the engine room, followed by a substantial fire, which then led to the explosion of the gas tanks on the roof of the bridge. He did not have an easy or plausible explanation for Mr Bugeja's statement that he smelt an unusual odour followed by the explosion and could not state what could have had a strong smell, was at the same time flammable and could have been present in the engine room.

Mr Bugeja said he had detected a strange smell, which he had never smelt before in his life and could not describe it. He also said the boat was on fire for six hours but Prof. Vella concluded that, after it exploded, the Simshar had burnt for no longer than 2.5 hours.

He said the smoke would have been black in colour and could have reached a height of 392 metres and been visible from a distance of between 25 and 35 kilometres.

Expert boat-builders explained that fibreglass was highly flammable and, once alight, it was practically impossible to extinguish. Burning fibreglass just disappeared into nothing and would let off a great deal of black smoke.

Another possible cause of an explosion was outlined by engineer Joseph Amato, who about 10 years ago invented and patented an engine that worked with gas rather than diesel and ordinary fuel, but stopped the project when he realised it could be very dangerous if it fell into the wrong hands. However, he suspected that the model could have been copied by others and a number of fishermen used gas instead of fuel without taking the correct precautions.

When the use of LPG gas to fuel engines was mentioned to Mr Bugeja, he was surprised and said he had never used LPG gas instead of diesel.

Mr Amato said the explosion could have been caused by overcharged batteries, which would let off hydrogen that was explosive.