Unsafe working practices and poor safety culture were at issue in the death of port stevedore who was crushed by a hatch cover during cargo discharge operations on board a ship at a Antwerp bulk terminal last year.
The port stevedore was on board the Gibraltar registered general cargo ship MV Cimbris when he was fatally crushed when a hatch cover was moved by the ship’s gantry crane at the Antwerp Bulk Terminal in Belgium on July 14, 2020.
The UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch conducted the investigation on behalf of the Gibraltar Government in accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding between the MAIB and the Red Ensign Group Category 1 registries of Isle of Man, Cayman Islands, Bermuda and Gibraltar.
No-one saw the stevedore place himself in a hazardous position between the crane and the hatch cover, and the ship’s chief officer did not have a clear line of sight, the MAIB said. A second crew member was not used to act as a lookout or banksman.