10.12.2013

Floating crane buckles

A floating crane working on the salvage of a sunken German mine layer from the second world war, collapsed yesterday while attempting to lift the final piece.

The crane, owned by De Klerk Waterbouw, was said to be making a 100 tonne lift when an unplanned movement caused the twin boom to crumple.
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The crane after the incident yesterday

The boat, an MFP-920, is lying in around 14 metres of water near the shore of the Veerse Meer lake near Vrouwenpolder in Zeeland, southern Holland. It originally weighed around 240 tonnes, but had been cut into three sections, two of which had already been removed.

It has been lying upside in the lake since the war, but officials were worried that it might still have unexploded mines on board, so it was being removed to go on show in a museum.
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The crane lifting oner of the first two parts of the boat

As far as we are aware no one was hurt in the incident and a replacement crane is on the way.