Three Dockworkers Killed While Unloading Coal at Port of Antwerp

Three dockworkers have been killed final Saturday on the Port of Antwerp after unloading coal from an open hatch cargo ship.

The three staff have been reported to have suffocated after they entered the open cargo maintain of the Hong Kong-flagged MV Saga Frontier to scrub it. The three killed have been all stated to be skilled dockworkers.

Local media reported Thursday that investigators are wanting into the potential for negligence on behalf of the Captain and crew for not alerting the dockworkers to the presence of poisonous gases within the maintain.

An announcement by International Transport Workers’ Federation President and chair, Paddy Crumlin, stated “We can never relax on port safety and accident prevention. Antwerp is a port where health and safety is taken very seriously, and, like the three men’s trade unions, we are confident that a full investigation will take place into what happened and how any resulting lessons can be implemented.”

The 46,550 DWT MV Saga Frontier was inbuilt 2007 and has a complete of ten cargo holds with two touring gantry cranes. The ship is owned by Saga Welco with head places of work in Norway.

The ship was nonetheless docked at Antwerp as of Thursday evening.