Deadly Blast at Rotterdam Port Leaves One Dead and Several Injured

A fatal explosion at the Gunvor Energy oil terminal in the port of Rotterdam on Thursday afternoon left one person dead and several others injured during pipeline maintenance work.

Fatal Explosion at Rotterdam Port

The incident occurred on Thursday, August 13, around noon at the fuel terminal near Moezelweg in Rotterdam-Europoort during maintenance work on a pipeline near a storage tank.

A hired crew specializing in pipeline maintenance was working at the Gunvor Energy facility when a malfunction likely triggered the explosion, according to Dutch media reports.

Investigation and Company Background

A company spokesperson confirmed that a malfunction may have occurred during the work, with blast traces visible on one of the storage tanks. The Dutch Labor Inspectorate is investigating the causes of the incident.

Gunvor Energy belongs to the Gunvor Group, one of the world’s largest independent energy commodity trading firms, registered in Cyprus with its main trading office in Geneva. Founded by Swedish businessman Torbjorn Tornqvist and Russian oligarch Gennady Timchenko, the firm has been employee-owned since 2025.

Emergency Response and Concurrently Reported Incidents

Six ambulances, police, the fire department, and a helicopter were dispatched to the scene, where a Rotterdam police spokesperson confirmed one fatality and multiple injuries.

Authorities have not yet established an official cause of the explosion and are investigating the exact sequence of events. Meanwhile, a major power failure occurred earlier Thursday morning in another part of the port, Botlek, forcing the ExxonMobil refinery to halt production and flare excess gases, following a high-voltage station fire at Maasvlakte. It remains unknown whether these incidents are linked.