INVESTIGATIONS have begun after a ship and a mobile crane were damaged during loading operations at the AAT terminal in the Port of Brisbane.
The crane was being lifted onto general cargo ship Pacific Endeavour at 1300 on 6 June when the unit fell. It was being moved by the vessel’s shipboard cranes.
The front end of the unit impacted the wharf, and its back end impacted the vessel. The damaged crane was lifted back onto the wharf by 1900 on Friday 7 June.
Nobody was injured.
The all-terrain mobile crane is owned by Smithbridge Group. It was to be shipped to Guam for a project, with Townsville Marine Logistics appointed stevedores for the loading operation.
Smithbridge Group has commenced its own assessment of the incident while further investigations are underway.
Smithbridge CEO Oliver Martin said the most important thing was that nobody was hurt.
“It’s too early to say [what caused the incident], as internal or external reports are being prepared at the moment,” he said.
“When you have a crane in an unusual position, you tend to find centers of gravity can make planning complex.”
Mr Martin said the relevant authorities were notified, and the recovery was handled “very well and very professionally”.
“The damaged crane was partially on the ship due to the accident, so it was lifted off,” he said.
“We worked through the night to make sure everybody, including the authorities, were comfortable with the recovery plan.
“The damaged crane will be taken back to our yard to be assessed. It’s too early to say how long the process will take; I would imagine there are a lot of stakeholders involved.”
Smithbridge Group is the parent company for Universal Cranes, Auckland Cranes and Smithbridge Guam.
Smithbridge Guam branding is visible on the damaged crane in photos from the incident.
At the time of writing on 11 June, Pacific Endeavour is berthed at the Brisbane International Cruise Terminal, understood to be awaiting repairs related to the incident.
The Liberian-flagged vessel had conducted operations at New Zealand’s Port of Tauranga prior to Brisbane, and was slated to call the Port of Newcastle after completing at AAT.
Townsville Marine Logistics and AAT declined to comment for this article.
