Caught a load slipping at the Port of Savannah last Tuesday

I had a 12-ton steel coil swing sideways when the wind gusted to 35 knots near container berth 4. It taught me to check the anemometer before every single lift, even if the forecast says calm. Has anyone else had a close call with sudden weather shifts on the water?

3 comments

3 Comments

cameronb528d ago

Read an incident report from the Port of LA where a crane operator misjudged a 40 knot crosswind and dropped a container on the dock. The report basically said what you're saying now - trust the numbers, not the forecast. It sounds like you got lucky, but walking away from it with that lesson is what matters most.

wade_perez8d ago

And it's funny you mention that report, because I remember reading a similar one from a shipping yard in Savannah where a guy ignored the anemometer on a gusty day and ended up putting a shipping container through the roof of a warehouse. Like, the thing flew clean off the spreader and just floated right into the building. Everyone walked away, but the paperwork was a nightmare. Makes you wonder how many close calls happen that we never hear about because someone just happened to look at the right dial at the right time.

uma_baker997d ago

Wondered how many of those close calls are tracked at all. @cameronb52 I remember that incident report got passed around our safety meeting and it was the same basic story different coast. That anemometer is the only thing standing between you and a 40-foot box flying through the office window. What I want to know is how many operators actually ignore it because the forecast says something else or the schedule is tight.