I have been following with interest the Simshar incident through The Times and have come to some conclusions based on the published details. Now that the inquiry has been concluded, and having read the results thereof, I find it hard to accept the court experts' opinion that the explosion was due to a leakage from an LPG cylinder. It is normal practice on all seagoing vessels to store gas cylinders either on the roof of the wheelhouse or on deck and never in the engine room, a fact which I have been made to understand in my practice at sea.

Simon Bugeja, the Simshar's owner and captain, declared under oath that, while at sea, he had gone down to check the engine room and found an obnoxious smell he had never experienced, when suddenly an explosion occurred.

When Mr Bugeja entered the engine room the obnoxious and explosive sulphuric gases must have been balanced by the air entering the engine room and exploded. This should have been considered by the experts helping in the inquiry.

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