Tuesday, July 06, 2004 Crane falls: 1 dies, 31 others injured By Oscar C. Pineda
CEBU CITY -- A hydraulic crane lifting a gangway carrying 32 maintenance crewmembers lost its balance and fell at the Keppel Cebu Shipyard in Lapu-Lapu City Monday morning.
One died and 31 others were injured in the accident that happened while the crane was moving the crewmembers of mv Superferry 12 from ship to shore.
The men were about to go on their lunch break after doing repair work on the WG&A vessel drydocked at the Keppel Cebu Shipyard.
Keppel Cebu identified the fatality as Pablito Roque, 47, an engine crewmember. He didn't make it to the hospital alive.
A crewmember was seriously injured while three were treated as out-patients, according to a press statement from Keppel Cebu. The rest of the crewmembers were confined at the Mactan Doctors' Hospital and Chong Hua Hospital in Cebu City.
One of those injured said, though, that he saw two co-workers die on the spot.
The accident happened near the shipyard's gate in Barangay Lo-ok at 11:45 a.m.
The crane lifted the gangway with workers from Superferry 12 to the port for their lunch break.
The gangway was overloaded because many workers hung on to it, police investigator SPO4 Francisco Baguio said.
The gangway was near the ground when it lost balance and fell.
Baguio said he was not given enough information and the names of the fatalities, as the company was still doing its own investigation that time.
He got the information from Keppel safety engineer Danilo Del Rosario.
This was the same reason Keppel official Jerald Lee gave to Sun.Star when pressed for details. He said their findings will be sent to their office in Singapore.
One of those injured, Michael Duranggo, 22, of Barangay Pardo, Cebu City, said he saw two persons die instantly. He did not know their names.
Jennifer Macairan, Keppel Cebu Shipyard human resource manager, said the company will foot the hospital bills and give "reasonable" financial assistance to Roque's family.
Sun.Star visited the accident site and saw the heavy equipment crane lying on its front.
Its two huge rear tires were suspended 20 feet above the ground and its two front tires, some three feet up.
Around 50 meters from the fallen crane was the yellow gangway, made of angular bars welded together in crisscross pattern to form a 15-meter long platform with four-foot high railings on both sides.
Keppel Cebu Shipyard Inc. is 100 percent owned by Keppel Philippines Marine Inc., a publicly listed company.
Keppel Philippines Marine Inc. is a subsidiary of Keppel Offshore and Marine, which in turn is the marine arm of Keppel Corp. Ltd. of Singapore.
Keppel has three shipyards in the Philippines-in Batangas, Subic and Cebu.
The 23-hectare shipyard in Barangay Lo-ok, Lapu-Lapu City has serviced the vessels of clients from the United Kingdom, Singapore, Cyprus, Australia and Malaysia. But most of its clients are local firms like WG&A and Sulpicio Lines.
The shipyard has 402 regular employees, said Macairan in earlier interview.
She said the shipyard will be 100 years old this year. The yard was owned by the Aboitizes before Keppel took over in 1988.
Keppel Cebu is the first shipyard in the country to be ISO 9002 certified. (With reports from Superbalita)
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