Maintenance Work Can Become a Major Loss Event

18 August 2026

Executive Summary

An explosion at a petroleum-storage facility at the Port of Rotterdam has highlighted a risk that can receive less attention than fire, terrorism or natural catastrophe:

Maintenance itself can create a major operational hazard.

One person was killed and six were injured after an explosion at a Gunvor petroleum-products storage facility at Rotterdam on 13 August.

Gunvor told Reuters that the incident occurred while maintenance work was being undertaken on a storage tank. Police said there was no immediate evidence of sabotage and that the cause remained under investigation.

Importantly, nearby major facilities were largely unaffected and Rotterdam authorities said separate power outages at the port that day were not connected to the explosion. Shell said its operations were unaffected and the port said LNG terminals had not been impacted.

That distinction matters.

The alert is not about claiming Rotterdam suffered a major supply interruption.

It is about what the incident illustrates:

Some of the highest-risk moments for critical infrastructure occur when equipment is being inspected, opened, repaired or returned to service.

UK Impact

Maintenance risk is highly relevant to UK businesses operating:

• Fuel storage.
• Chemical plants.
• Warehouses.
• Manufacturing facilities.
• Power stations.
• Utilities.
• Ports.
• Food-processing facilities.
• Construction sites.
• Heavy industrial equipment.

Maintenance can temporarily change normal operating conditions and introduce hazards associated with isolation, opening, draining, depressurisation and recommissioning of equipment.

Equipment can be:

• Isolated.
• Drained.
• Opened.
• Depressurised.
• Electrically disconnected.
• Worked on by outside contractors.
• Returned to service after intervention.

These temporary conditions can produce risks that do not exist during normal operation.

Contractor management therefore becomes part of business-continuity risk rather than simply a health-and-safety issue.

Global Impact

Rotterdam is Europe’s largest port and one of the continent’s most important energy hubs.

It contains major oil refineries, storage infrastructure and the Gate LNG terminal. Reuters notes that Shell’s Pernis facility alone has approximately 404,000 barrels per day of refining capacity, alongside other major refinery operations at the port.

This creates concentration.

An incident does not necessarily need to destroy an entire terminal to become commercially significant.

Depending upon circumstances, damage to:

• A control room.
• Electrical substation.
• Tank connection.
• Loading arm.
• Pipeline junction.
• Fire-water system.
• Specialist processing unit.

can potentially interrupt capacity considerably larger than the physical footprint of the damaged component.

The Rotterdam incident fortunately did not cause that wider disruption.

But it provides a useful reminder of the vulnerability.

Our View

Businesses should treat major maintenance as a period of heightened operational risk, particularly where contractors are involved.

Companies should ask:

• Which maintenance activities could interrupt the entire site?
• Who controls contractor permits to work?
• Are isolation procedures independently verified?
• Are hazardous materials completely identified before work begins?
• Does hot-work authorisation reflect changing site conditions?
• Are contractors included in emergency exercises?
• What happens if maintenance overruns?
• Are critical systems being serviced simultaneously?
• Can maintenance on one component disable several production lines?
• Are insurers notified when major shutdown or turnaround work occurs?
• Is adequate business-interruption protection maintained during planned outages?

Preventive maintenance is intended to reduce risk.

But the process of performing it temporarily changes the risk environment.

Businesses therefore need to recognise that equipment may be safest while operating normally and most vulnerable while somebody is trying to make it safer.

Risk Indicator: ELEVATED

Disclaimer

The information contained within these Market Alerts is provided for general market awareness and informational purposes only. It does not constitute financial, legal, investment, regulatory or insurance advice. Whilst every effort has been made to ensure accuracy at the time of publication using multiple reputable and independently verified sources, geopolitical events, legislation, regulation and market conditions may change rapidly. Readers should obtain appropriate professional advice before acting upon any information contained herein.

Invictus Risk Solutions LLP – Helping organisations stay ahead of emerging risks through informed insight and independent analysis.