15.01.2018

Wind takes gantry down

A large gantry crane at the Damen ship repair yard in Schiedam, near Rotterdam, The Netherlands was destroyed at the start of the month due exceptionally high winds.

The incident occurred in the early hours of January 3rd The crane was apparently properly secured, but it seems that one side began moving, causing a twist that broke the lifting beam away from its legs. As the two elements parted company sparks are seen to fly from the electrical conduits.
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One of the gantry legs

While the exact cause has yet to be determined, those present at the time suggest that the high winds may have created a localised tornado effect.

Fortunately the direction that crane fell reduced the damage to other parts of the facility/dry dock and no one was hurt in the incident.
If it had fallen in the other direction it would have come down on the Aeolus, a wind turbine installation vessel owned by van Ord, which is in the dry dock for an upgrade.
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The fallen beam

A video shows the crane going over.