Two crewmen, one of whom was reported to be “gravely” injured, have received medical treatment on the island after an explosion on board a container ship in the seas east of Bermuda.

The Maersk Sana was travelling from Newark to Singapore on April 28 when the explosion happened.

It is understood that the ship was about 400 miles east of the island when the blast followed an engine fire.

The two injured crewmen arrived in Bermuda last Thursday morning and were initially taken to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital.

One was seriously burnt and was airlifted to the United States for treatment.

A Maersk spokeswoman confirmed that on April 28, the container vessel Maersk Sana was en route from Newark to Singapore when it experienced “machinery-related issues in the main engine room”.

She added: “All crew members have been accounted for, though three sustained injuries. One crew member required only first aid, which was administered on board.

“On April 30, two of those crew members, whose injuries were more severe, were successfully transferred to the vesselMaersk Nomazwe and evacuated through a medevac operation to a medical facility in Bermuda.

“One of them has since been discharged and the other has been transported to a hospital in the US where he is receiving the best possible care.

“The vessel Maersk Sana is drifting safely at sea off the coast of Bermuda. A towage vessel is expected to make contact with the Maersk Sana in a little over a week’s time.

“As we always do in such cases, we have initiated an investigation, which is ongoing, and we are concurrently in close dialogue with the relevant stakeholders.

“While the investigation is ongoing, we cannot go into further details about the incident. Safety is of paramount importance and we will take the learning from our investigation to avoid similar incidents in the future. We remain in communication with our customers about mitigating impacts to their supply chains.”

Bermuda Maritime Operations said it had initially liaised with the US Coast Guard at RCC Norfolk, which looked into dispatching a helicopter but could not because of the distance.

The Maersk Nomazwe came offshore and the pilot boat St David brought the crew members to an ambulance waiting at Ordnance Island.

Although the Maersk Sana remains disabled to Bermuda’s east, it was not said to be of concern to other vessels.

Maritime Operations added: “Although the vessel does have full electrical power and services on board, an ocean-going tug has been tasked from Norway to assist the stricken vessel with mechanical spares and technicians as well as being capable of towing the vessel to a port for subsequent repairs.”