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Crane collapse at Port of Vancouver

Officials say ship was coming in to berth when it made contact with ship-to-shore crane on the dock
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A tugboat is seen near the stern of a freighter after a large crane collapsed on the container ship at Port Metro Vancouver’s Vanterm facility on Monday January 28, 2019. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck)

A large crane used to load containers onto ships in the Port of Vancouver has collapsed across a loaded container vessel, shutting down operations at one dock of the busy port.

A spokeswoman for Global Container Terminals Vanterm says the ship was coming in to berth early Monday morning when it made contact with a ship-to-shore crane on the dock.

The ship, identified on a marine traffic website as the 300-metre-long Ever Summit, doesn’t appear damaged, but footage from the scene shows the boom of the crane draped across the vessel along with several crushed containers stacked at the ship’s stern.

Stairways and walkways at the top of the crane have been torn from their mounts and a large tubular “arm” is folded like an elbow, but facility spokeswoman Louanne Wong says no one has been hurt.

Wong said a damage assessment is continuing and two tugs are holding the ship against the dock to ensure it does not shift, possible causing further damage.

Vessel operations have been shut down and an exclusion zone has been set up to manage the scene.

The Canadian Press

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