Source : Fire Abroad by Frank Rushbrook. With Thanks to Peter Rennie  Seistan had been built at the yard of John Readhead and Sons Ltd, South Shields for Strick Line Ltd in 1957. She had five holds, two forward of the machinery space and three aft. Of two decks, the Centre Castle contained the Bridge and much of the accommodation. The Indian crew were housed in the Poop, with the Serangs in the Deck House above. Being a new ship she complied in every way with the requirements of the Fire Appliance Rules 1952 and her Safety Equipment Certificate was valid until July of 1959. Her Fire Fighting Equipment was as follows :- 3 Power Pumps of which one was an independent diesel driven emergency pump, 9 lengths of 2.5 inch hose, 16 two gallon foam extinguishers, 14 two gallon water/CO² extinguishers, 2 quart C.T.C. extinguishers, 2 x 10 gallon foam extinguishers, 6 axes, 1 portable electric drill, 12 sand boxes, 2 electric safety-lamps, 2 smoke helmets complete and one compressed B.A. The holds and machinery spaces were protected by a steam smothering system. Seistan had loaded a general cargo in Liverpool and at the Millwall Dock in London before proceeding down river to Cliffe to load 156 tons of commercial explosives. This particular cargo was made up of gelatine and Geophex which were stored in magazines of the M.S.B. type, port and starboard forward number five Tween Deck, twenty-one cases of safety fuses were also stored in the Tween Deck. A further seven cases of commercial detonators and one service detonator were stored in portable magazines in Number Four Bridge space. Further dangerous cargo was stowed in Number One Tween Deck and the Foc’sle. Amongst the general cargo stowed in Number Five hold were two cases of ‘Toe Puff’ and the Blue Book describes it as thus ‘Box Toe Board used in the manufacture of boots and shoes. Characteristic properties consist of several layers of fabric impregnated with cellulose nitrate, solvent, rosin and dye. Liable to spontaneous combustion. To be packed in tins or cans of suitable make, hermetically sealed, in turn packed in wooden cases, and to be stowed on or under deck away from inflammable cargo and not to be stowed in the same hold as explosives!’ The book further adds ‘There are no restrictions on the Toe Puff material which has been tested by the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation and found not liable to spontaneous combustion’. This particular batch of Toe Puff had been manufactured by Messrs. M. Morel and Co Ltd of Leicester who in 1949 has asked for a ruling as to their product and its packing from the Dangerous Commodities Section of the M.O.T. The Company had supplied samples for the test and the tests must have proved satisfactory because the Ministry replied to Morels ‘This material may be packed in wooden cases without the inner hermetically sealed tins, providing a written declaration is given in respect of each shipment that it is free from the risk of spontaneous combustion’. Morels then issued a certificate with each consignment of its product which was headed ‘Ministry of Transport decision 22/12/49, reference M3462/49 and certifying that the goods had been properly dried, that they were free from the risk of spontaneous combustion and did not come under the classification of Dangerous Cargo’. The two cases stowed in Number 5 hold bound for Baghdad were accompanied by such a certificate. All Firemen serving in the long established shoe manufacturing areas around Leicester and Northampton are all to well aware of the dangers of ‘Toe Puff’. The Fire Service are called out on a regular basis to extinguish fires which are in the main attributed to the spontaneous combustion of ‘Toe Puff’. ‘Toe Puff’s are made of layers of cotton or woollen material which has been impregnated with the afore mentioned chemicals, when the ‘Puffs’ are soaked they form the hard toe cap on shoes and boots. Rosin which is also added is defined as : Turpentine, prepared from dead Pine wood, and it is this product which is most liable to spontaneous combustion. VOYAGE Seistan sailed from London bound for Khorramshahr passing through the Mediterranean and Suez Canal without incident. On the 6th of February when in the Red Sea Captain W.A. Chappell ordered that No. 5 upper hatch be opened so that the mooring ropes stowed tween deck could be lifted out, on completing the task the hatch was once more battened down. The wooden cover on the spiral stair well down to the lower hold was not removed. The following day Seistan arrived at Port Said. On the 17th of February smoke was seen emitting from the forward starboard ventilator and immediately a hose was run out, the cowl was removed and water commenced to pour into Number Five hold. A short while later smoke started to pour from the forward port ventilator and the same procedure was applied, the two aft ventilators were closed in an attempt to prevent the air flow. Because explosives were in Number Five hold Captain Chappell ordered that the lifeboats be swung out and he made for Kais Island intending to anchor but instead was ordered to proceed to Bahrein where it was hoped to discharge the explosives safely. The Chief Officer attempted with the aid of a smoke helmet to ascertain where the seat of the fire lay but was unable to see through the thick smoke. For the rest of the day boundry cooling was applied to the hatch covers and steam smothering switched on to the hold, Seistan arrived six miles off Bahrein at 0440 on the morning of the eighteenth and dropped anchor, two hours later the steam smothering was turned off. Lloyds List reported the fire on the seventeeth and on the eighteenth that ‘British Motor Vessel Seistan, Liverpool for Khorramshahr, reported this morning : Fire in explosives magazine, steam smothering in operation. Proceeding to Bahein, then attempt extinguish fire; estimated time of arrival 6am Feb 18th.’ Meanwhile on Seistan the hatch covers were removed and revealed little or no smoke. Boundary cooling was applied to the outsides of the magazines and the doors opened. Smoke and steam poured out which was dispersed by the use of the fire hose. With the compliance of Stricks’ Bahein Agents and Captain Crombie, Marine Superintendent of Gray, MacKenzie and Co stevedores already standing by in lighters were ordered to commence discharging the explosives. As work proceeded it was noted that some of the cases were exuding jelly like substances, some green others red, this was probably caused by the steam smothering on the gelatine of which one component was combined with Acid Magenta. When explosives start to weep it is a sure sign that they have become unstable and there is no doubt that the Officers involved in the incident must have had grave misgivings. That day the lower hold was inspected by a Fire Control party led by the Chief Officer who was able to report that they had not discovered any hot spots. For the rest of the day and until midnight that night the crew and stevedores managed to discharge 75 tons of explosives, a formidable feat considering everyone was plagued by headaches caused by fumes coming from the cases. During the discharge smoke occurred once more, coming from under some packages of prefabricated building material stowed on top of the Tween Deck hatch, fire hoses were played on them. The hatches were rebattened and the steam smothering recommenced, it was left on till 0715 and turned off when the hatches were reopened. The Chief Officer again inspected the hold which by now was again filled with smoke and played out a hose which he ran for about three quarters of an hour. He reported to Captain Chapple that he had located the seat of the fire which was in the lower hold and suggested that this area should be flooded. The Master concurred and hoses were fed down the ventilators and turned on, after an hour on orders from the Captain the hoses were turned off and steam smothering applied. It was decided to move Seistan closer in to Bahrein and she anchored about three miles from the port. The hatches remained battened and the use of steam smothering continued for the rest of the day. At about 2100 hours number 5 hatch began to emit sparks thrown up into the night sky and a short while later an enormous explosion took place. Seistan was torn in two with the aft section sinking almost immediately. The fore section with its accommodation wrecked by the blast caught fire and finally sank in about seven fathoms of water. 
The death toll was horrific, fifty-three members died including the Captain and four men who were on a tug which had been stationed alongside. The following day Lloyds List reported that of the crew of sixty-six of whom fifty-one were Asian and the wife and child of the Chief Officer only nineteen survivors were found, tragically five more crew members were to die later due to their injuries sustained in the explosion. There is no doubt that the Toe Puff caused the fire on Seistan in fact her sister ship Karagistan suffered from similar fires involving the same material and all four cases were thrown overboard on the 30th of April. A formal investigation under the Merchant Shipping Act, 1894 was held at Church House, Westminster. The following lessons learnt from the tragedy would appear to be as follows: CO² is preferred to steam smothering, maintain closed hatches for at least 36 hours, when carrying explosives flood the hold, bilge lines should have remote control valves fitted so that flooding can be carried out quickly, still flood from the top as well, magazines should have internal sprinklers fitted, adequate BA training for the crew, the effect of steam smothering on explosives must be made widely known and finally cargo liable to spontaneous combustion must never be carried in the same hold as explosives. |
