Jurong Shipyard in Singapore was fined S$230,000, after a fatal accident occurred in 2011, when two workers lost their lives, after falling from a hydraulic crane, Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower (MOM) informed.
The two men were working in the basket of a cherry picker, at the time, conducting grit-blasting work, when the cherry picker’s boom collapsed and fell to the floor from 30 metres, local media said.
MOM informed that after an 18-month overhaul maintenance of the cherry picker, corrosion was noticed on the boom and the basket and painting was used to rectify the issue.
Furthermore, the second boom should have been replaced, as per the instructions of the manufacturer’s guidelines, MOM added, but it wasn’t.
This is because the shipyard did not consult the manufacturer’s guidelines, but it wrongly consulted American Bureau of Shipping rules for survey after construction, according to sources, which apply to conventional vessels and not lifting equipment.
Moreover, Jurong Shipyard did not perform checks on all the boom sections after the 18-month overhaul maintenance was completed.
Finally, Jurong Shipyard was fined another S$400,000 back in November, because of a 2012 incident, during which the Noble Regina Allen oil rig suddenly tilted during testing, with many workers suffering injuries.
