During cargo discharge operations at Deer Park, Texas, in 2019, the chemical tanker Fairchem Philly experienced a catastrophic pressure imbalance while unloading liquid hexane under a nitrogen blanket. When pressure levels surged beyond design limits, the vessel's internal cargo tanks swelled and ruptured, spilling pressurized chemicals directly into adjacent ballast tanks.
The sudden structural failure instantly exposed the air-sensitive liquid hexane to oxygen, completely contaminating the cargo and resulting in a total financial write-off. Investigations revealed that the shore-supplied nitrogen line operated at pressure thresholds far exceeding the physical discharge capacity of the ship's emergency relief valves.
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