Damage to more than two dozen containers and injuries to three staff occurred after a gantry crane collapsed at the Port of Kaohsiung in Taiwan last Thursday.

It was reported that an empty OOCL-owned vessel Durban struck a laden Yang Ming cargo ship, Yongyang, positioned at Pier 70, whilst maneuvering towards its assigned berth at Pier 66 at the Port of Kaohsiung in Taiwan.

The collision caused the stationary vessel to crash into a gantry crane at the same wharf, which further damaged a second crane, injured a port worker and trapped two staff. The two crane maintenance workers became temporarily trapped but said to have been rescued unharmed. The member of staff operating the collapsed crane at the time was rushed to hospital, however, officials say he is recovering from non-life-threatening injuries.

Aboard the Yang Ming ship were an estimated 30-50 containers, which were damaged upon being struck, and whilst the vessel itself suffered minor damage, the gantry crane collapsed in its entirety, causing further damage to a second crane.

Taiwan International Ports have said:

“The original construction cost of the two affected cranes is approximately NT$600 million ($21.6 million), [with] the estimated value of the loss to the affected containers remains to be investigated.”

It is not yet evident when they will manage to clear the container yard and resume operations, however, we can only expect that the reduced operational capacity and delays will continue to add further strain to Far East supply chains. Unsworth are continuing to monitor the situation and will update customers when we have any news of development at Taiwan's largest port.

If you have any immediate concerns or questions, please get in touch with your Unsworth representative.