The National Transportation Safety Board has released its report on a January 4, 2024, incident in which a crane on a crane barge contacted a ship to shore terminal crane, which suffered
The National Transportation Safety Board has released its report on a January 4, 2024, incident in which a crane on a crane barge contacted a ship to shore terminal crane, which suffered over $4.5 million in damage.
The accident occurred at about 1620 local time when the towing vessel Royal Engineer, owned and operated by Stevens Towing Company Inc. of Yonges Island, S.C., was transiting the Cooper River near North Charleston, S.C., while pushing the crane barge Stevens 1471,
The towing vessel was maneuvering through a narrow area between the docked containership Celsius Nicosia and a dredging vessel. The dredge’s floating discharge pipeline was blocking the rest of the channel. when the barge crane contacted a ship to shore crane at the North Charleston Terminal.
The Royal Engineer mate was aware of the dredging operations along the tow’s transit route and had transited the area the day before. The mate told investigators that, on the day of the contact, he attempted twice to contact the dredge crew early to make passing arrangements, but was not able to establish communications until about 15 minutes before the Royal Engineer tow reached the dredging area.
The mate told investigators that his original intention was to request that the dredge “break the pipeline” so the tow could pass to the east of the dredge. However, the dredge captain’s preference was for the tow to pass to the west of the dredge. The two agreed the tow would proceed through the narrow area between the dredge and the containership.
While completing the passing arrangements, the Royal Engineer mate did not realize the ship-to-shore terminal crane extended over the side of the containership and impeded the tow’s route. Had the Royal Engineer mate been aware of the ship-to-shore crane boom extending beyond the containership when he was determining passing arrangements, he likely would have realized the crane was a potential overhead hazard and made a plan to avoid it.
“Ship-to-shore cranes, when conducting cargo operations on a vessel and in the lowered position, may extend considerably beyond the side of the vessel and become a hazard to vessels with high air drafts transiting nearby,” the report said. “Mariners should always consider their vessel and tow’s air draft when identifying hazards to navigation.”
- Download the full NTSB report HERE
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