Report on Port of Vancouver crane collapse raises concerns about large vessels

A report from federal regulators into a 2019 cargo ship collision and crane collapse has raised concerns about the capacity of the Port of Vancouver.

The collision happened around 4 a.m. on Jan. 28, while the MV Ever Summit was berthing, assisted by two tugs.

It caused a ship-to-shore gantry crane’s boom to tumble onto the vessel’s deck. No one was hurt.

According to a new report from the Transportation Safety Board, the marine pilot aboard the Ever Summit couldn’t see either of the tugs during the maneuver.

“The pilot was relying on his memory and mental model of the manoeuvre to keep track of the location and movements of the tugs,” the report concludes.

“Intending to move the bow of the vessel towards the berth by ordering the forward tug to push and the aft tug to pull, the tugs were inadvertently given opposite commands.”

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Since the collision, the British Columbia Coast Pilots Ltd. has developed standard operating procedures for tug communications during berthing and unberthing operations, the report said.

But it raised new concerns about the growing size of vessels plying Vancouver’s ports, noting that infrastructure in place now leaves “very little tolerance for error” in berthing maneuvers.

There are currently no regulations from Transport Canada or the port authority around determining the suitability of a berth for larger vessels, it said.

“As the size of container vessels calling at the Port of Vancouver continues to increase and, given the absence of any oversight as to the suitability of the berths by Transport Canada or the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, the Board is concerned that the size of vessels may exceed the Port of Vancouver’s terminal infrastructure capacity to accommodate them safely,” it concludes.

In the wake of the collision, the port was forced to bring in a pair of floating cranes to assist with the removal of the collapsed crane.