Two dockworkers died and another one is seriously injured during cargo handling operations at Port of Kobe, Japan. The general cargo ship BBC Asia was unloading cargo of pipes by own cranes, but during the operations a bunch of pipes suddenly moved at lowering and smashed over the workers. The accident was immediately reported to the local authorities and three ambulances were dispatched at the terminal. Unfortunately two of the dockworkers were found dead under the pipes, which the third was seriously injured and hospitalized in life-threatening condition. The cargo handling operations were suspended until further investigation and ensure of the safety.

According to the witness evidences, the ship was unloading a bunch of pipes by own cranes, but suddenly the vessel moved or jolt, which caused fell of the cargo and smashing over the dockworkers. There were no injured crew from the cargo vessel and no damages of the ship’s hull. The vessel was detained at the port during the investigation.

The general cargo ship BBC Asia (IMO: 9266310) has overall length of 120.00 m, moulded beam of 20.00 m and maximum draft of 7.00 m. The deadweight of the vessel is 7,541 DWT and the gross tonnage is 7,014 GRT. The cargo ship was built in 2003 byXingang Shipbuilding Heavy Industry in the shipyard in Tianjin, China.