Royal Navy sailors rushed to hospital ‘in suspected poisoning’ after drinking contaminated water on HMS Portland
SAILORS onboard a Royal Navy ship were rushed to hospital today following a suspected poisoning.
HMS Portland diverted to Portsmouth Naval Base when a sailor noticed drinking water had been “contaminated”.
Scientists boarded the Frigate after crew were taken to nearby Queen Alexandra Hospital following the incident.
A source told The Sun no one was hurt in the incident, which came following a mix-up from a young engineer.
They quickly came forward, potentially saving the lives of crewmembers.
The source added: “The person who committed this mistake acted with honesty and integrity to let senior officers know what had happened.
“If they were not to do that this could have been a whole lot worse.
“Integrity and honesty are key components of the Royal Navy and we are glad they have been upheld.”
Ships use fresh water reverse osmosis and on this occasion the engineer is understood to have put the wrong chemicals in the wrong hole.
It is unclear how many sailors were taken to hospital and what exactly got into the drinking water to contaminate it.
Reports of water contamination comes just weeks after HMS Portland announced that it was monitoring Russian warship.
The Frigate scrambled to intercept the Admiral Gorshkov and its accompanying tanker Kama when they sailed into the North Sea.
HMS Portland departed from its home port at Plymouth on Saturday, January 7.
In a statement, HMS Portland’s Commanding Officer Commander Ed Moss-Ward said: “Escorting warships in UK territorial waters and the adjacent sea areas is routine activity for the Royal Navy.”
The Ministry of Defence confirmed water onboard had been contaminated.