01.03.2008

Cranes damaged at Felixstowe

Two cranes were badly damaged last night at the Port of Felixstowe in the UK after a crane delivery ship loaded with new ship to shore cranes broke free from its moorings in strong winds.

The ropes holding the Chinese ship Zhen Hua 23 at the Landguard Terminal in Felixstowe broke in 80mph winds. Large dock cranes on board the vessel collided with two container cranes on the dock side causing them to collapse like dominoes causing terminal damage.
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The Zen Hua 23 arriving at Felixstowe Yesterday

The Zhen Hua, arrived at the port yesterday carrying three new container cranes for Britain's busiest container terminal, the first of over £20 million worth of new cranes scheduled for delivery this year and one for the poort of Gothenburg in Sweden.
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The collapsed cranes will probably be written off

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The mangled cranes

A crane driver who was working at the port when the incident happened, said: “Due to the high winds, the ship broke its moorings and started to move down the quay. The new cranes hit some of the old ones and completely destroying them. I think the new cranes were badly damaged too.”
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The ship came to rest at the end of the dock.