In a spectacular example of lifting gear failure, this 132 ton EMD GT46C-ACe locomotive was dropped while being transferred from the ship to the pier.
The lifting gear suffered a complete failure, that’s obvious, but why?
Here are some questions that will most certainly be looked at:
1) Was the rigging inspected by a qualified rigger?
2) Were the load ratings of the rigging used legible and physically attached to the slings used?
3) It appeared that a wire rope failure occurred. Was the correct shackle size being used?
4) How much wear was on the wire rope before this rigging operation? Were any strands noted as worn or broken? If so, to what percentage?
5) Were there any permanent kinks, birdcaging, or signs of crushing in the wire rope before this lifting operation began?
6) Was the weight and the center of gravity of the locomotive known?
7) How was the sling led underneath the locomotive? Any sharp points?
Any other considerations?
How many changes of underwear were required?
worked with a guy who dropped a jet while in the Marines…….
Impressive. Ship didn't seem to be effected, I remember offloading 56 ton boilers in Venezuela during sea year and watching SS Del Mundo really heel over, the ship in this film seems to hardly notice the off center weight. Doesn't seem to be shore gear. But in answer to your question I would say two. One for the initial shock of it all, and the second time after a bit when it becomes a funny story and you piss yourself laughing. What good does fretting do at that point… Then again. Not my ship not my locomotive
Persons viewing this incident may wish to google Elder Dempster/Onitsha and read the history of this ship with a 150 ton SWL Jumbo. Was on her, in 1958, SAFELY loading and discharging locomotives and ‘small’ marine craft, up to the maximum SWL.
What dropped: One of six…
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=413205&nseq=7
Where : Owendo, Gabon.
When:?
http://video.today.msnbc.msn.com/today/49757242#49757242
"Caught on video: Deliverymen drop 200-ton train".
"A brand-new multi-million dollar locomotive made it all the way from the U.S. to West Africa before it fell 20-feet while being unloaded from a delivery ship. TODAY’s Natalie Morales reports."
Surprise, surprise! West Africa ! Where else COULD it happen ?
Just the most obvious – has the pier been checked for damage after absorbing 264,000 lb of steel being dumped on it from 15 feet, both topside and in the pilings and underside structure? You can't run another locomotive on that until you do. Another BSB.
The company I work for rebuilds locomotive and steamship engines. I can guarantee that unit will need to be rebuilt from stem to stern. The pier might need some work too.
Looks like the Wire rope or strap parted. Either old or worn or not rated for the weight.
Was that one of the Ocean Atlas , Ocean Charger , Ocean Giant type ships , Heavy Lift?
It looks like they were using 2 slings in a basket to eye end for the one closest to the pov , which is a big no no.A shackle in between the 2 slings would have held up better.But , A sling half the length of the basketed one rated at one quarter of the total load with a shackle to join the 2 would have been the optimum set up.simple really, let me know if y'all need any more help.Southern boys rule.
Several things.
It appears that synthetic round slings were being used throughout (as is normal), I see no wire rope in the rigging other than the crane winch line.
It appears that the failure was in the area of the handrail, which indicates contact with a sharp edge on the locomotive, or possible previous damage to the sling.
It does not appear to have anything to do with shackles or other parts of the rigging due to the location of the failure point. (Although a poorly designed rigging system above camera view may have caused excess load to transfer to that sling, but I would guess it was physical damage to the sling, most likely from a sharp edge on the load.)
Without being able to see where/how the sling was attached, I can't say if it was rigged correctly, but since the failure appeared to be above the rigging point I would assume it was correct.
Here is a very similar incident I ran a cross a couple of weeks ago.
In this one, the sling was wrapped underneath an outrigger with a sharp edge and a slant, so the sling tended to slide along the sharp edge.
It had padding, but very thin.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xb_U1y3va6Y&feature=g-hist
(This was loading it onto a ship, so is on topic! ;)
I have watched this five times in slow motion and seems like the pad eye on the train pops (first!) and then (of course!) the rig fails (excess dynamic load), so it’s the factories fault for not putting on a heavy duty pad eye…all these bullshit questions about “was it rigged properly” are mote.
Yes – we delivered 12 locomotives from USA to Mombasa one trip aboard the SS Genevieve Lykes without incident when I was CMate.
Lots of lashing and used the right gear with ships HL Stulken Boom.