A 34-year-old Romanian
national employed by an outside contractor died aboard a cruise ship under
construction at the Marghera facilities of Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri on
Wednesday, November 4. The man became
unwell while working inside the vessel at around 11:00 local time at the
company’s shipyard near Venice. A forensic doctor from Padua later confirmed
his death. The Fiom Metropolitana di
Venezia union said he had been welding inside a confined space aboard a vessel
approaching delivery. A yard rescuer reportedly became unwell after
going to the worker's assistance, as did another worker. La Nuova Venezia
reported that three other Romanian workers fell ill, including a 50-year-old
who was taken to hospital in Mestre.
Fincantieri said in a statement that no other injured people had been
reported. Specialist personnel from
the regional nuclear, biological, chemical and radiological unit carried out
environmental measurements and sampling inside the work area to determine
whether gases or other chemical compounds were present. Oxygen deficiency is being considered as a
possible explanation.
The test results have not been released, and the
cause of the worker’s death remains under investigation. Work in the affected area was stopped, and
the area was placed under judicial seizure.
Fincantieri said production at Marghera was suspended for the entire day
as a mark of mourning and that it was cooperating with local authorities. "Working in confined spaces requires
a whole series of rigorous precautions, both those required by legislation and
those governed by Fincantieri's company provisions," the union said.
The death
followed a welding accident at Fincantieri's Ancona yard in late September in
which two subcontractor employees died.