Sources said columns on the cranes buckled and collapsed at about 0025 hours on today. Two security guards were injured, one critically, and both were taken to a local hospital.
While the accident prompted concern that one of the dry docks at the yard could be out of action for up to six months, industry insiders have already suggested that the shipbuilder would try to spread work among its other facilities to mitigate delays.
The Hudong-Zhonghua group has four shipbuilding facilities including Shanghai Edward Shipbuilding, at Pudong, Punan and Fuxing.
They include a dry dock capable of building very large crude carriers, a 120,000 dwt floating dry dock and five shipbuilding berths for vessels up to 20,000 dwt, 70,000 dwt and 120,000 dwt. The shipbuilder has eight 100 tonnes capacity cranes working at its shipbuilding facilities.
One source said: “The accident is potentially crippling for the shipbuilder. But until a proper assessment can be carried out and executives can review how much work can be carried out by other facilities it is difficult to comment on how much impact the accident will have on production.”
UPDATE
The AP is now reporting 36 confirmed casualties:
Rescuers have found more bodies in the wreckage of a 600-ton crane that collapsed at a Shanghai shipyard, raising the death toll to 36, the official Xinhua News Agency said Wednesday.
The crane collapsed Tuesday as it was being raised at the Shanghai Hudong Shipyard, causing a column to fall on a group of 30 laborers. Three people are hospitalized with injuries and two others were treated and released, according to Xinhua.
The shipyard says the cause of the accident is under investigation.
Shanghai, China’s biggest port, is a major center for shipbuilding and repairs. The Hudong yard, opened in 1928, is one of the city’s biggest
Nearly 7 years ago Yantai Raffles Shipyard, in Shandong Province China, recognized that the building of tomorrow’s biggest offshore oil vessels and platforms would require machinery of epic size. To prepare for this future they commissioned the construction of the World’s Largest Crane.
Now, the largest builder of semi-submersible drilling rigs, reached a new milestone by christening of the world’s first fixed dual-beam gantry crane, with an enormous lifting capacity at 20,000 MT, making it the biggest crane in the world.
The new state-of-the-art facility at the Yantai shipyard is named ‘Taisun’, after a famous sacred mountain in the PRC’s Shandong Province reflecting its size, strength and inspirational qualities.
The Christening ceremony was held on April 18 and was well attended by over 600 guests from all over the world. The event commenced with a ribbon cutting session by distinguished guests. Following the opening address by Mr Brian Chang, Chairman of YRS, ‘Taisun’ demonstrated to all attendees its astounding strength by hoisting up a launching barge 30 meters above the water. Independent party American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) witnessed the lift and presented Mr Chang with a “Witness Load Testing” certificate, confirming the capacity of ‘Taisun’ at 20,133 MT; a heavy lift world record.
‘Taisun’ now entering into commercial service, has been earmarked for at least nine lifts over the next 24 months. It will revolutionize the way large offshore projects such as semi-submersibles and FPSOs are built. By providing a perfectly safe, uniquely controllable and highly cost effective way to join super sections of up to 20,000 MT, the hours spent working at great heights will be significantly reduced. As a result, overall project man-hours can be improved upon by up to 2 million, overall build schedules and time-to-market shortened, and safety and quality greatly improved.
In a press statement made by Mr Haldor Fottland, Area Manager of Awilco Offshore, it said, “Awilco Offshore Semi AS congratulates YRS on the christening of the 20,000 MT crane. The introduction of this big crane certainly opens up for more efficient project execution. We are glad to see the ‘Taisun’ crane operating, and we look forward to experience it in full action with the mating lift for our first semi-submersible rig.”
It is the world’s first fixed dual-beam gantry crane, with an unparalleled lifting capacity of 20,000 tonnes. The crane is named “Taisun” after a sacred mountain in China’s Shandong Province reflecting its size, strength and inspirational qualities.
In 2008, Yantai Raffles Shipyard celebrated the much anticipated First Commercial Lift by Taisun amidst a blaze of fireworks and the expectant gaze of the 750 strong local and international guests, lifting the massive 14,000 MT Deckbox of COSL Drilling Europe AS’ (“COSL”) Semi-submersible Drilling Rig, the ‘COSLPioneer’, and mating it onto the Columns and Hull of the Rig in one single operation, demonstrating an unprecedented feat within the industry.
The Taisun crane has been commissioned by YRS until 2010 to complete at least 9 lifts over a 24 month period.
For more information on the world’s largest crane, check out the YRS website HERE
A worker is seriously injured after a crane collapses at Southampton Dock. According to BBC:
Fire crews were called to Southampton Docks, owned by DP World, at Dock Gate 20 in Western Avenue, at 0520 BST.
The crane, a twin boom rig with the cab suspended on rails, toppled on to the ship, Nyke Themis, the coastguard said.
It is the second serious incident involving crane operations this year and the Unite union said it has “deepened concerns” over worker safety.
Matt Tipper, Unite regional industrial organiser, said the injured man is one of its members.
The man, reported to be the crane operator, has been freed from the wreckage and taken to hospital with life threatening injuries including injuries to his legs. More video from this incident can be seen on BBC HERE or check out some more pictures HERE.
The maritime and ship-building industry has a constant need to move the world’s heaviest loads between ship and shore and even employees the biggest crane in the world. But the true workhorses of the industry are the heavy lift cranes used to move mega-blocks, large sections of newly constructed ships, around shipyards throughout the world. The following are photos of the cranes and rigging that do the truly heavy lifts.
The task is to lift the whole bridge sections, each weighing approx. 3500 tonnes.
A massive 328-foot crane arrived in San Francisco Bay last week to start working on the Bay Bridge’s eastern span project. The crane, called the “Left Coast Lifter“, was built specifically for the Bay Bridge project in Shanghai, China and is the biggest floating crane ever to hit the west coast. It arrived aboard the MV ZHEN HUA 22 and passed under the Golden Gate bridge en route to Pier 7 in Oakland, where it will be tested before being moved into position at the Bay Bridge.
The crane’s boom is 328 feet long, weighs approximately 992 tons and is capable of lifting over 1,800 tons of materials. At a height of about 30 stories, the West Coast Lifter will tower 150 feet over the existing bridges roadway.
A while back we post this incident photo of two large gantry cranes collasping under strong winds at Jaxport. Well Thanks to Fred Frey in this Maritime Monday and TugboatLife.com for pointing us towards video of this incident, which is now circulating the web. I think TugboatLife nailed it by saying “looks like a starwars scene.” Let’s take a look…
August 13, 2008: From what appears to be the result of strong winds whipping through the area, a 125 ft., 950-ton container crane collapsed, slamming into a second crane of the same size. Both cranes crumbled to the ground in a heap of twisted metal, damaging a third crane.
The cranes, located on Jaxport’s Blount Island Marine Terminal in Jacksonville Fl., cost an estimated $6M each. Luckily, no injuries were reported.
Investigators are looking further into the incident, as the cranes have withstood tropical storms for 25 years without a hitch.
For more information on this and other maritime incidents, check out Cargolaw.
South Korea’s coast guard sent boats to contain the country’s biggest oil spill in more than a decade after a Hong Kong-registered supertanker collided with a barge.
About 81,000 barrels of crude oil was spilt after a crane on the barge crashed into the Hebei Spirit at 7:15 a.m. local time, Jeong Seon Mun, deputy director of the maritime safety information center at South Korea’s Ministry of Maritime Affairs & Fisheries, said. The ship was anchored 5 miles (8 kilometers) northwest of the Taean peninsula at the time.
The leak is almost a third of the 37,000 tons spilled into Prince William Sound, Alaska, by the Exxon Valdez in 1989, according to data on the International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation’s Web site. The Taean Coast Guard deployed 12 patrol boats and 3 accident control vessels, Jeong said today.
“Oil is still spilling,” Jeong said by telephone in Seoul. “The police face difficulty in carrying out the operation because high waves make it hard to contain the spill.” Continue Reading…
A time lapse of the ZHEN HUA 5 on May 5th 2007 in Harwich Harbour carrying away a Port of Felixstowe ship to shore crane. The crane is twisted and buckled after a collision with a ship. The cruise ship Princess Danae passes in the foreground. YouTube Link
South Korea’s coast guard sent boats to contain the country’s biggest oil spill in more than a decade after a Hong Kong-registered supertanker collided with a barge.
The leak is almost a third of the 37,000 tons spilled into Prince William Sound, Alaska, by the Exxon Valdez in 1989, according to data on the International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation’s Web site. The Taean Coast Guard deployed 12 patrol boats and 3 accident control vessels, Jeong said today.
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