Three men have died, one is still missing and one is seriously injured, following a marine crane dismantling incident at a dockside steel plant in Kawasaki City, on the south side of Tokyo, Japan.
The scene at first light
This incident occurred on Tuesday night, April 7th, while a crew was dismantling an old IHI dockside crane. A large 35 metre scaffold tower was supporting the counterweight, while additional towers supported the boom and front end. at on April 7th .
The same scene prior to the incident occurring
The five men directly involved in the incident, two in their 20s, two in their 40s and one teenager were reported to have been working on the 500 tonne barrel shaped six by nine metre concrete counterweight, apparently breaking it up, rather than attempting to use a large crane to lift it down, which is understandable given the height, the weight and possible load bearing capacity.
Work on the crane continued in spite of strong winds in the area, but what actually set off the incident is still unclear, although it is clear that the steel-encased concrete counterweight broke away from the ‘counter jib’ and the scaffold support collapsed, which occurred first and caused the incident remains unknown - or has simply not been communicated.
The missing counterweight
Either way, the counterweight plummeted 30 metres or more to the deck, smashing through it, and possibly taking some of those working below with it into the water. At least one excavator was overturned, while a four axle Rough Terrain /city crane had a very lucky escape.
On the night - this crane had a lucky escape
The Kanagawa Prefecture Police confirmed that the incident occurred at JFE Steel's East Japan Works in Ogishima, Kawasaki Ward, Kawasaki City, during the dismantling of a crane. It also confirmed that three of the four men, all company employees, taken to the hospital, were dead, naming them as Kenshiro Chiba, Yu Koike, and Katsumi Ueyama.
The crane had been used to load and unload iron ore from ships, but was being demolished following the closure of JFE Steel's blast furnace.
Update - April 15th 2026
Yesterday Police carried out a search at the premises of the main contractor responsible for the demolition - TOA Corp. on suspicion of professional negligence resulting in the deaths of three men, or four, as one is still missing, presumed to have fallen into the sea. They also searched the premises of the demolition subcontractor Besterra Co. in Tokyo.
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