Incident Photo of The Week – JAXPORT Crane Collapse

Updated: February 5, 2026 (Originally published October 28, 2008)

UPDATE:

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…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rO6vvthQ6x0

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.

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