Southampton suspends use of cranes

Southampton suspends use of cranes    DP World has suspended the use of three additional container cranes at its terminal in Southampton, England, following a crane accident there left its operator in what the company described as serious, but stable.
   The crane, a twin-boom rig with the cab suspended on rails, failed at both uprights and collapsed onto the containership NYK Themis. The crane was working the ship at the time of the accident. The Coast Guard and a DP World spokesperson said the accident happened in good weather.
   A U.K. Coast Guard helicopter assisted in lifting the injured cranes operator to dockside where an ambulance took him to hospital by road.
   The U.K’s Health and Safety Executive and the Marine Accident Investigation Branch will investigate the incident.
   “Although it is premature to identify why the accident happened, given the position of the crane at the time of the boom collapse, initial indications are that it is unlikely that this incident had a similar cause to the crane 8 boom collapse in January 2008,” said Campbell Mason, managing director of DP World Southampton.
   Both the crane that collapsed this week and the one involved in the January 2008 accident were Morris cranes, built in 1993, the company said.
   “We are continuing an active dialogue with the Health & Safety Executive regarding the accident investigation and the status of our other Morris built cranes,” Mason said.
   He added that following discussions with the HSE, shipside operations resumed at the terminal, which will use six other quay gantry cranes made by Liebherr and Paceco. The terminal also has mobile harbor crane available for operation.
   DP World said that an independent investigation to determine the cause of the January 2008 accident concluded late last year. But it said, “we are not in a position to make any statement regarding the identified cause pending the conclusion of the HSE's investigation.” ' Chris Dupin