Explosion after “temporary repair” in Dockyard.

The BBC reports that there was a “steam explosion” which caused an “almighty bang” at the Devonport Dockyard in Plymouth this week. 

“The incident, at the Devonport yard in Plymouth, occurred at about 1000 GMT, when a rubber hose supplying steam to the Morice Yard area ruptured.

Small pieces of metal and rubber were scattered up to 30m (99ft) away. No-one was hurt, but witnesses said that it caused an “almighty bang.” 

Babcock Marine are said to be undertaking a full investigation.   The explanation is crystal clear, and is mentioned almost as an aside in the Beeb article, cowboy workmanship, no doubt under instruction from a management only interested in profit and not safety -

“The rubber hose had been installed as a temporary repair whilst a new permanent section of pipe was being manufactured to carry steam, the dockyard said.”

And these are the people entrusted to run a nuclear submarine complex in the heart of a city containing 250,000 people?