Docker Killed in the Hold of General Cargo Vessel [Douala, Cameroon – 15 October 2022]

Posted by admin on Oct 15, 2022 in Bulletins

With great regret, Blueoceana Company has been advised that M. Ngue Gervais Innocent (a docker at the Republic of Cameroon port of Douala) was fatally injured earlier today when a package of finished lumber struck him while in a hold of M/V AFRICAN WIND (See photo below).

We have no further facts to relate at present, but have made relevant inquiries with the hope and expectation of being able to supplement this post soon.

UPDATE – 16 October 2022: In communication with workers at Douala port, we’re told that the stevedoring company of record is Bolloré, a large, transnational logistics organization with extensive operations in West Africa.

We have also been provided with a video clip which shows the accident victim being transported off M/V AFRICAN WIND via ship’s deck crane; aboard a draft of finished lumber; accompanied by two work colleagues. We are currently declining to make the video clip or the photographs provided to us publicly available, owing to their graphic nature.

We will, however, provide one screen capture (See below) depicting the ship- to-shore transfer of the victim and two work colleagues who accompanied him to the dock aboard a draft of finished lumber. As the draft is landed, the full video clip makes it clear that M. Innocent was still alive (eyes moving, hands moving) at that point in time. There are no outward signs of external injuries.

One work colleague at Douala explained to me that ambulance response time was sorely lacking, owing to preoccupation with other emergency calls. I’ve asked about on-site first aid availability, and I’m waiting on a response to that question as well as some factual information about how the package of finished lumber came to strike M. Innocent in the first instance.