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What should have been a routine day’s work went bad for Hibiscus Marine and Storage when their crane toppled to the ground while lifting a boat out of the Weiti River onto the hard stand.
No one was hurt in the incident, which happened last month, however there was severe damage to the crane, two boats and injured pride for the company.
Silverdale Fire senior station officer Jim McLean says firefighters were called to the scene at 1 Poplar Lane, Stanmore Bay to ensure there were no issues regarding hydraulic fluid spilling from the crane.
Luckily, he says, not much had leaked and no potential pollutants spilled into the waterway.
He says the concrete jetty under the crane’s hydraulic jack gave way. This caused the crane to lose its balance and it crashed down onto the yacht it was lifting, as well as onto another one nearby. Both yachts were badly damaged.
The vessel being lifted belonged to a Coastguard volunteer. The damage was such that the boat ended up being towed back to its berth by Coastguard (see column).
Yard manager Tim Waite said the accident came out of the blue – “We’ve lifted hundreds of boats there, including heavier ones, without incident,” he said.
The matter is now in the hands of insurers and the costs of salvage and repair of the jetty could be considerable.
