Tractor Operator Fatally Crushed by Dropped RTG Spreader [Cape Town, South Africa – 20 March 2020]

Posted by admin on Mar 20, 2020 in Bulletins

With great regret, Blueoceana Company has received word from a friend in South Africa that a marine terminal worker operating a yard tractor in an RTG service lane was crushed to death by the RTG’s spreader which had dropped an as-yet unknown distance earlier this morning.

We’re still awaiting supplemental information as to what may have caused the spreader to descend in such a manner. Typically, RTGs hoist motors are fitted out with a secondary braking means, leaving us to conjecture exactly why the spreader ended up where it did.

We’re promised further information as the day progresses. If and when anything relevant comes our way, it will be published here as an UPDATE.

We do recollect that marine terminals at Cape Town are operated by Transnet National Port Authority. At Cape Town, the Ben Schoeman Dock is the home of the container terminal.