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Dangerous occurrence involving a mobile crane

A member has notified us of a serious incident involving a mobile crane onboard one of its vessels. The crane was being utilised to install a spool piece subsea. The crane was severely overloaded and its track lifted off the vessel deck as it started to topple over. The load was released and the crane fell back to deck, suffering extensive damage in the process. The overload protection mechanism on the crane had been deactivated.

The company involved has notified all of its vessels and work sites, which were requested to inspect their cranes and lifting equipment to ensure that all overload protection mechanisms are installed, operational and activated.

It has stressed that no unauthorised modifications of lifting equipment are permitted.

The company has also reiterated its policy for lifting operations, which includes ensuring:

  • any safety devices installed on lifting equipment are operational and activated;
  • the load does not exceed the dynamic or static capacity of the lifting equipment, in accordance with the conditions on the approved capacity chart for the lifting equipment;
  • the actual load has been verified, including a test, if necessary.

Safety Event

Published: 1 July 2001
Download: IMCA SF 07/01

IMCA Safety Flashes
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IMCA Safety Flashes summarise key safety matters and incidents, allowing lessons to be more easily learnt for the benefit of all. The effectiveness of the IMCA Safety Flash system depends on Members sharing information and so avoiding repeat incidents. Please consider adding [email protected] to your internal distribution list for safety alerts or manually submitting information on incidents you consider may be relevant. All information is anonymised or sanitised, as appropriate.

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