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Broken Chinese Finger

What happened

During a reeving operation of the forward crane auxiliary hoist, there was a failure of a “Chinese Finger” between the messenger wire and auxiliary hoist wire. About 6m before reaching the trolley sheave, the Chinese Finger broke, resulting in the auxiliary hoist wire falling down into the cargo hold. The messenger wire fell on the main deck below the crane trolley.

Broken messenger &  auxiliary hoist wire
Close-up of broken Chinese Finger

What went right

No-one was nearby where anything landed. There were no injuries.

What went wrong

  • The Chinese Finger parted due to direct contact between the sharp edge of the Auxiliary Hoist Wire and the Chinese Finger itself;
    • The Chinese Finger could not withstand the applied tension endured during the reeving works;
    • The point of contact between the Auxiliary hoist wire and Chinese Finger was too sharp resulting in a point load;
    • The Auxiliary hoist dead-end was not tapered and by this created a sharp edge at the extreme end of the wire;
  • There was a lack of awareness of this aspect of the use of the Chinese Finger.

Members may wish to refer to:

Safety Event

Published: 14 July 2022
Download: IMCA SF 17/22

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