Busan berth will be offline for months after boxship prang takes out multiple cranes
Officials at Busan New Port say that its seventh berth will be out of action for months as cleanup operations get underway to remove shattered crane debris following Monday’s dramatic boxship accident.
Captured on video, and seen by more than 300,000 people on Splash’s YouTube channel already, the Japanese controlled 13,900 teu Milano Bridge ploughed into a number of cranes when coming into berth on Monday at the Korean port, also hitting the 10,000 teu Seaspan Ganges moored in front of it.
One crane collapsed with much of the debris falling onto the aft of the giant Japanese boxship while another four cranes were knocked off their rails and cannot be moved at present. One of these cranes knocked off its rails is viewed by authorities as an additional collapse risk.
Remarkably just one person was injured in the industrial carnage. The driver of the crane that collapsed hurt his ankle and was sent to hospital, having leapt five metres to safety as the ship made contact with the quayside.
The Busan Coast Guard is investigating the accident, and has interviewed the captain and the pilot with further interviews carrying on today.
The Milano Bridge, operated by Ocean Network Express (ONE) and owned by Doun Kisen, had recently been in drydock for collision repairs. THE Alliance, which ONE is a member of, has found alternative tonnage to replace the Milano Bridge on its scheduled service to the Mediterranean.