Lessons learnt
While the crane operator was slewing a jib crane for cargo handling work. The jib felldown to the deck. A stevedore working on deck was hit by the falling crane wire rope andwas later certified dead in the hospital.
The general dry cargo ship was loading at port by her own deck cranes. When the accident happened, the duty seaman was operating one of the cranes according to the signal from the Bosun on deck.
The jib of the crane carelessly touched the other crane when it was slewing counter-clockwise to reach the desired position. The crane operator did not stop for inspection but further lowering the jib which caused the relaxing of the luffing wire. The crane then slewed backward in clockwise direction to move away.
Shortly after the jib was off from the contact with the other crane, the jib and its associated wire rope suddenly fell down. The support of the luffing wire rope sheave at the top of the crane housing yielded. The sheave detached from the mounting and fell into the sea. The stevedore underneath was hit by the falling crane wire ropeand was later certified dead in the hospital.
Followings are the contributory factors of the accident:
- The luffing wire rope might have been slackened after the jib of the crane was leaned against the other crane due to human error. As the jib was turned away from the other crane, it lost its support and fell under gravity. This generated anenormous force on the luffing wire rope, which broke the support of the sheave and caused the jib to fall down. After the fall, the hoisting wire rope of the jib hit the stevedore underneath;
- The crane operator did not follow the instruction of the signaler to operate the crane as per the requirements stipulated in the Code of Safe Working Practices for Merchant Seamen;
- The ship’s crew did not follow the Ship Safety Operation Guidelines of the Shipping Company to ensure that nobody worked or stayed in the vicinity of the crane jib while the cranes were in operation; and
- Only one inspection checklist had been recorded for all the cranes, such practice of recording was not recommended.
Lessons learnt Followings are lessons learnt from the incident:
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Source:Hong Kong Marine Department