Killed and injured

By Maritime Union of Australia

Seven port workers have been killed and another seven seriously injured in spate of accidents around the world's ports this year.

On the South Carolina docks a 30-year veteran of Charleston was killed in July when a container fell on him at the Wando Terminal. Fairplay magazine reports William 'Ed' Holst, 52, was pronounced dead at the scene after the crane operator accidentally dropped a container, according to a port authority spokesman. The operator was repositioning a box to make room for another at the time.

A container cargo fireball engulfed workers in Hong Kong, critically injuring two men in April. The fireball erupted as one of the workers opened the door of a 40ft container at the container depot, Lloyds List reported. The container was loaded with a consignment of waste rubber being shipped to China. Investigating officials believe the box may have contained ethylene propylene diene monomer which gives off noxious and volatile fumes which can explode when coming into contact with air. Police said the man who opened the container received severe burns to his arms, legs and face. Another terminal worker who was walking nearby was also seriously burnt.

In Alabama a man died in March following the collapse of the state dock's largest container crane. A second person involved in the incident essentially walked away from the scene, US Coast Guard reports. Eyewitness reports say the crane was struck by a ship in the Mobile River. The ZIM Mexico III, operated by ZIM Lines, an international container shipping line based in Israel, collided with the crane at about 11:30 a.m. U.S. Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer John Samples witnessed the incident. He was across the Mobile River where Harrison Brothers Dry Dock & Repair Yard Inc. is working on an 87-foot Coast Guard patrol boat. "First we heard a loud banging noise. We all ran out and saw the crane just starting to fall over. There were two front legs on the crane, and the ship had cut those and taken them out. The crane has counterbalances on the back, and with nothing to hold that down, it just started toppling backwards. It fell away from the river onto the pier where all the workers were working," he said.

A Port Everglades accident claimed the life of a longshoreman in March after he was injured during container loading operations. Louis Clairmont, 33, was pinned between a 20-foot container and a steel wall inside the ship where loading was taking place. He was later pronounced dead at Broward General Medical Center.

In Uniport, US, a forklift lifting a stack of containers three high collapsed, with one man killed and another in hospital. The man died on his last day on the job.

In LA a veteran longshore worker was killed and another seriously injured on the wharves in February. Matt Petrasich, 63, of Rancho Palos Verdes, was found dead atop a cargo container on the Panamanian-flag of convenience vessel Ever Deluxe. "Everybody on this waterfront is grieving," said Danny Miranda, president of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 94. "He was loved by a lot of people. Not one person could ever say a bad thing about him."

In a separate incident, foreman Cody Bates, 43, suffered serious leg injuries when a forklift struck him.

A week earlier Conce P. Campbell, 52, died in a switching accident on Terminal Island after slipping under a Burlington Northern and Santa Fe cargo train.

And in Vancouver, Canada, a longshoreman was killed on the waterfront in January after being hit by a piece of heavy equipment, just seven months short of his retirement, the ILWU, Canada reports. Barry Sime of Terminal Systems Incorporated, the company that runs Vanterm, told the local media this sort of fatal incident is rare in Vancouver - the first in 15-20 years. Al LeMonnier at ILWU Canada reports: "The deceased brother was a Rubber Tyre Gantry operator walking towards his machine. He was hit by the sidetrack at a location of the facility notorious for its congested layout.

"The normal procedure for RTG operators to reach their equipment is by vehicle driven by either foremen or the operators themselves if it is to relieve a partner. In this case the operator chose to walk to his machine because all the foremen were occupied transporting other employees. The location of the RTG was relatively close to the lunchroom."

In Miami in January a longshore worker (a yard tractor driver) was caught between the back of his truck and a container under the hook. Company sources say the man accidentally left his tractor in reverse gear and exited the cab through the rear door to free up a stuck twistlock. When the container was hoisted off the trailer, the lightening of that mass allowed greater reverse motion, pushing him into the container being held aloft. He was terribly injured, and was initially thought dead. It now looks as if he'll pull through, but with a daunting prognosis.

And in Darling Harbour Sydney, a truck driver was badly injured and lost his leg after leaving his vehicle and being accidentally hit by a forklift.