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An empty ship struck a loaded freighter and caused a collapse of one gantry crane, damage to another as well as more than two dozen containers and the injury of a worker at the port of Kaohsiung in Taiwan on Thursday.
Taiwan International Ports Corp. reported on its website that at 11:21 a.m. local time Thursday, OOCL Durban, while maneuvering towards its assigned berth at Pier 66 at Kaohsiung Port, collided with a moored stationary vessel at platform n ° 66. 70 and a portico on the same platform. The incident caused the gantry to collapse and the injury of a port worker, who was rushed to hospital for treatment.
American Shipper was unable to determine the condition of the worker, who allegedly used the crane when the collision occurred. But officials at Kaohsiung Port said he suffered a cut on his arm. Two crane maintenance workers were temporarily trapped but were reportedly rescued unharmed.
An estimated 30 to 50 containers aboard the moored freighter, identified as the YM Constancy, were damaged when struck by OOCL Durban, port officials said.
While the Yang Ming ship sustained minor damage, the gantry crane (GC8) collapsed completely and, when it fell, severely damaged an adjacent second gantry crane (GC6), Taiwan International Ports said.
The initial construction cost of the two affected cranes is around NT $ 600 million ($ 21.6 million), he said. The estimated value of the loss of the affected containers remains to be studied.
A report released with several videos of the crash said local media were told the harbor master’s office saw the Durban approaching too close to the Constance and issued a warning to adjust direction and speed.
Orient Overseas Container Line charters Durban and admitted in a company post on its website that an incident caused the gantry to collapse and injured a port employee.
In its brief message, the OOCL said the Durban was not carrying any cargo, that no damage to the ship’s hull had been observed and that the cause of the incident was under investigation.
According to MarineTraffic, the OOCL Durban, with a capacity of 8,476 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU), had sailed to Taiwan from Shenzhen, China. At the beginning of May, the Durban had called in Australian ports.
The YM Constancy, built this year alone, has a load capacity of 2,940 TEUs. According to VesselFinder, he had called Shenzhen, Malaysia and Singapore before setting off for Kaohsiung.
Responders inspect the damage at the port of Kaohsiung in Taiwan. (Kaohsiung Port Authority)
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Click for more American Shippers / FreightWaves Stories by Editor Kim Link-Wills.
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