Liebherr cranes fall off Jumbo ship while loading in Rostock
Part of Rostock Port has been closed after two mobile harbour cranes fell off the heavy-lift vessel Jumbo Vision during loading operations. Because there are fluids leaking from the cranes, port basin B has been temporarily closed and secured with oil barriers to prevent further pollution.
The incident occurred on Friday, January 31st around 21.00 while Dutch shipping company Jumbo Maritime was loading mobile harbour cranes at Liebherr’s manufacturing facility in the port. Eyewitnesses told local media that one of the harbour cranes on deck was tipped over by one of the shipboard cranes of the 6,993 dwt heavy-lift vessel. This caused the vessel to list after which the second crane on deck lost stability as well.
In a comment to PCJ, Jumbo Maritime says the cause for the accident is still under investigation. “During loading, the cranes rolled off the deck subsequently into the water due to reasons yet unknown and currently under investigation“, a spokesperson says.
Two workers were sustained minor injuries were treated by paramedics on site, the shipping company confirms.
The Rostock port authority took swift action by laying out oil barriers. Specialists from Baltic divers were called in to skim a “relatively small amount of leaked pollutants” from the port’s waters. The port authority and water police estimate that around 100 litres of oil have leaked from the crane, the majority of which could be sucked off by the oil-defence vessel “Flunder”.
During a dive, the exact location of the cranes was explored and the ventilation ports on the hydraulic oil and diesel tanks were sealed to prevent further pollution. In total, the cranes carry around 7,600 litres of hydraulic oil and 3,000 litres of diesel fuel.
Salvage
Salvage preparations are in full swing. The oil tanks of the cranes will soon be emptied. Meanwhile, a survey vessel has made 3D-scans of the area to document the damage to the cranes and identify reliable lifting points to remove the cranes from the port basin which is about 11 metres deep. The cranes reportedly weigh about 440 tonnes each.
In the coming days, all necessary measures will be summarized and coordinated in a detailed salvage concept, Rostock Port states. “As the port operator we are working in close cooperation with the authorities to find a solution for the early resumption of port operations in port basin B”, says the port’s managing director Gernot Tesch.
Liebherr was not available to comment on the incident.
More news
Fuel prices take a massive nosedive
Fuel prices have taken a massive nosedive since the beginning of the year with low sulphur fuel prices in Singapore dropping from USD 734 per tonne on January 1st to USD 415 per tonne today. The price drop comes at a good time as the transport and logistics industry is struggling with low demand as… Read more ›
Zeamarine closes offices in Denmark
Zeamarine is closing its operations in Denmark. The Danish subsidiary has filed for bankruptcy resulting in the closure of two offices and 23 employees being sent home, confirms local liquidator Hafnia Law. The German breakbulk carrier has two offices in Denmark, one in Naevsted and one in Aarhus, but both offices have now been closed… Read more ›
Manager loses contact with general cargo vessel after pirate attack
Chinese vessel manager Tianjin Xinhai International Ship Management has lost contact with its general cargo vessel Huanghai Glory after the vessel sent a piracy alert using its Ship Security Alert System (SSAS). An unknown number of pirates are believed to have boarded the vessel, which is currently drifting off the coast of Nigeria. The vessel’s… Read more ›