Unsecured cargo inside box broke lose and fell

Description of Incident

A load of cargo being lifted onto a vessel destabilised and the cargo, weighing over 400kg, fell approx. 5m from the load onto the vessel deck. This high potential near miss incident occurred when materials were being lifting from the quay onto a vessel alongside. A pallet containing two closed wooden crates with one piece inside each crate, was slinged and lifted. At around 5m off the deck, the crane started to turn the load into the vessel’s deck. A hydraulic ram within the cargo moved and broke the wooden crate, causing the pallet assembly to destabilize and the two crates to fall to the vessel deck. There were crew members on deck within 3m of the impact. No-one was injured. There was some damage to deck equipment.

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