In the early morning, the Vancouver Harbour is usually abuzz, specifically at the Port of Vancouver’s container terminal.
However at 4:00am on January 28, that buzz was replaced with a crash when a large crane used to unload shipping containers fell onto the back of ship.
No injuries were reported, however vessel operations at the Global Container Terminal (GCT) Vanterm were halted. No other operations outside the GCT Vanterm terminal were affected. An exclusion zone has also been established around the area but rail and truck operations remain active.
The crane fell after a Panamanian container ship called Ever Summit made contact with the ship-to-shore crane used to unload vessels, known as a gantry crane. The Taiwanese shipping company Evergreen Marine Corp. owns the vessel.
In 2018, the Port of Vancouver’s 22 gantry cranes moved an average of 339 containers a day. The entire GCT Vanterm terminal including all six cranes are currently non-operational. Based on 2018 statistics, this accident will reduce container operations by 2,034 containers a day, or 27.2% until operations resume to normal.
Operations are still halted and it is unclear when the GCT Vanterm terminal will reopen.
