THREE sailors were taken to hospital after an explosion aboard a warship off Portland.

Several others received minor injuries in the incident which occurred during routine gun testing.

The Omani sailors were injured on the Al Shamikh, which has been undergoing sea trials off the coast.

The Portsmouth-built corvette is one of three 99-metre ships built by UK firm BAE Systems for the Royal Navy of Oman.

The crew are a mixture of Omani sailors and BAE employees, who are putting the Al Shamikh through its paces before the ship is due to be handed over to the Sultanate of Oman later this year.

South West Ambulance Service Trust (SWAST) was called to Castletown on the island after the incident took place.

A spokesman for the service said: “We re-ceived a call at 4.52pm regarding an incident that took place on a ship.

“There were three male casualties, who were taken to Dorset County Hospital, and a number of walking wounded who suffered minor injuries.”

A witness who saw the men being taken on board the ambulance said: “There was a loud explosion on board the warship.

“She was on gunnery trials off Portland, when there was an explosion, sending shrapnel up.

“The blast was heard seven miles away in Weymouth. After the blast, the ship went into full emergency.

“A fire was also detected in the magazine and was put out by flooding with sea water. The ship ran into Portland Harbour where the crew were evacuated.”

However, a spokeswoman for the BAE refused to reveal details of the incident and wouldn’t confirm what had caused the explosion or the extent of he damage.

The ship was moored at a secure berth at Portland with what is believed to be a skeleton crew.

The BAE spokesman said: “An incident occurred on board the Al Shamikh while on sea trials during test firings.

“The ship returned to shore safely and an investigation is underway. Some members of the crew were taken to hospital as a precaution but were discharged later.”

She added: “BAE Systems cannot comment on details or what the cause of the incident might have been while investigations are taking place.”

A spokeswoman for Portland Port confirmed the ship was docked at the harbour but had returned to Portsmouth.

Tim Munro, Weymouth and Portland Borough Councillor for Underhill, said: “I don’t know anything about this incident as no one has informed us of it.

“Seafaring is an industry that does have an element of danger to it. I have every confidence in the abilities of Portland Port in this circumstance.”

The sailors are believed to be staying at Portland’s Heights Hotel.

The ship is expected to take part in patrols off the coast of the Arab country, which borders the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, to defend Omani waters, and aid peacekeeping and anti-piracy operations.

The incident is the second time the ship has experienced difficulties during its test stage.

The BAE Systems spokeswoman confirmed that there had been an engineering issue, specifically involving the sea water cooling system, during initial sea trials in 2011.

The engineering problems put back the ship’s schedule, delaying the handover to Oman.

There is no suggestion that the issue with engineering is connected to the incident on Sunday.

A spokesman for the Omani Embassy in London said they could not comment on the incident as the ship is still under supervision of BAE Systems.