Yard Tractor Operator Fatally Injured In “Jostling” Incident – Houston, Texas – 21 February 2020
With great regret, Blueoceana Company has just been made aware of a fatal accident occurring at the Bayport Container Terminal (Houston Port, Texas).
While many facts are still to be learned, our understanding is that the fatally injured ILA yard tractor operator was delivering a chassis-mounted container shipside for loading aboard an as-yet unnamed vessel. During the loading process, the container gantry crane hoisted the container and in so doing lifted the container, the intermodal chassis and the yard tractor up above the dock.
At one point in time shortly thereafter, the chassis and the yard tractor separated from the container (the box came away from the chassis twistlocks) and dropped back down to the dock. The distance estimated to me: approximated forty (40) feet.
The traumatic injuries sustained by the driver associated with that drop were fatal.
I’m receiving this information while en route from Jacksonville port to Newark-Liberty airport (at 30,000 feet), and don’t have any particulars in terms of who was releasing chassis twistlocks on dock, who was in communication with the container crane operator, who could have been in proximity to the crane’s emergency stop capabilities, etc., etc. All those aspects (and perhaps more) will be critical in assessing cause and remedy.
One of ILA’s three international safety representatives is now on scene, and a representative of USMX is en route from New Orleans. We’re sure to learn more as the day progresses. Any supplemental information of a factual nature will be posted here as an Update.
Link To Media Account:
Link To Media Account:
UPDATE: 21 February; 12:30 PM (EST)
Further information coming to us alleges that:
1). Operations were being conducted by Houston Terminals, LLC at Terminal 2 (T2) Bayport https://www.houstonterminal.com/our-company/;
2). Loadback was to C/V MAERSK DETROIT:
3). This particular load was a 40′ refrigerated container;
4). The chassis was of the gooseneck variety, with horizontal pinlocks forward and standard twistlocks on the rear;
5). As in many similar loadbacks (from gooseneck chassis), the front pins often take some finessing (the crane operator attaches to the container, the yard tractor operator pulls forward enough to come clear of the pinlocks and the box is then hoisted);
6). Several similar loaded reefer lifts were undertaken by that crane preceding this accident, all using the procedure outlined above; without incident;
7). With this particular lift, we’re told that the crane operator locked-in the crane’s spreader and proceeded to cycle directly back to the ship (without clearing the forward pinlocks);
8). The container, the chassis and the yard tractor all went up a given distance (see estimate above);
9). At one point in time shortly thereafter, the container kept going up and everything else dropped to the ground;
10). The yard tractor hit the dock and bounced up (on this bounce it is surmised that several bones in the operator’s legs were broken; and
11). The yard tractor bounced up again (on this bounce, the yard tractor operator was ejected from his cab and struck his head on the dock’s pavement (a conjectured fatal blunt trauma). It is surmised (but not proven as yet) that the operator’s seat restraint was not engaged.
