06.08.2008

Crane damages boats at marina

A crawler crane pulling out old wooden pilings at the Palmetto Bay Marina in Hilton Head, South Carolina tipped over backwards on Monday dropping its boom onto a docked sailboat and a houseboat which was occupied at the time.
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The boom went over the back from the recoil effect

The crane, an old Bucyrus Erie RB30 is owned by Atlantic Marine Construction of Beaufort, South Carolina, it was trying to remove a wooden dock pile that had snapped off during an earlier attempt. A rigger had to go under water in order to wrap the cable sling around the pile in order to remove the stump.
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The boom came down on two boats

When the crane then tried to lift the pile, the slings either slipped off or the pile disintegrated as the slings drew tighter around it. The recoil effect of the sudden unloading sent the cranes lattice boom back over the counterweight landing on the two boats behind.
The operator was able to jump out of the cab to safety and no one was injured in the accident.
Palmetto Bay Marina harbour master Chris Wimmer said: “We have worked with Atlantic Marine for decades the guys on that crew have been doing this type of work for over 20 years. but accidents happen. It's just the nature of the beast if you're in this business long enough."
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The recovery begins

Officers with the U.S. Coast Guard's Charleston office, began investigating the accident but then realised that it had no jurisdiction over the incident as the crane was land based. The job was therefore left to federal or state officials of the federal Occupational Safety & Health Administration.