Royal Navy sailors in hospital after ‘wrong chemical’ added to ship’s water

[Still Waters]

Sailors are being treated in hospital after drinking “contaminated” water on their ship, the Royal Navy has said.

Frigate HMS Portland is believed to have diverted to Portsmouth naval base earlier on Friday after the discovery that the “wrong chemical” had entered the ship’s system to convert seawater to drinking water.

A Royal Navy spokesperson said: “We can confirm that HMS Portland has returned to HMNB Portsmouth as a precautionary measure, following an issue with one of the ship’s fresh water systems. The health and safety of our personnel is of the utmost importance and we are taking a number of measures to safeguard the ship’s company whilst the issue is investigated.

The situation is understood to have been caused by “human error” and the person “owned up straight away”, said a Ministry of Defence source.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/feb/03/royal-navy-sailors-in-hospital-after-wrong-chemical-added-to-ships-water