One Marine Cargo Handling Worker Killed; Another Seriously Injured in Presumed Personnel Basket Incident [Rodman Port, Panama – 15 February 2025]

Posted by admin on Feb 25, 2025 in Bulletins

Information coming to Blueoceana Company would have us understand that one worker was fatally injured and another received serious injuries when a personnel transfer using a safety cage being hoisted and moved by a ship’s crane went bad on 15 February at the Panama International Terminal at Rodman Port (Adjacent to the canal’s entrance on the Pacific Coast of Panama).

The terminal is located close to the canal’s entrance and was once part of a large, strategically important U.S. Naval Base.

Our recollection, is that Panama International Terminal is operated by Port of Singapore Authority (PSA) on a concession administered by the Panamanian government that originated in 2006 and was renewed in 2021.

Rodman port is named after a U.S. Admiral [Hugh Rodman], who served as Marine Superintendent and Superintendent of Transportation of the Canal Zone immediately after the Panama Canal was put into service in the early part of the last century.

While there are plenty of news accounts addressing this accident (See links below), none of them reveal very much about the actual facts dealing with cause. In fact, none of them reveal anything associated with cause.

Notwithstanding, we’ve corresponded with marine cargo handling interests in Panama today who report a grapevine account which holds that the two workers were being brought aloft in a personnel carrier being hoisted by a ship’s crane when something went wrong in their transfer.

If and when we obtain a more complete fact pattern, we’ll update this post accordingly.

Links to Media Accounts: