Durban harbour disasters keep emergency services on their toes

EMERGENCY SERVICES was called out in Durban harbour last week to rescue a man who fell into a ship’s hold, while in another incident it was a large truck that had to be fished out of the bay. The man who fell into the ship’s hold was working on the bulker Glorious at Maydon Wharf when he slipped from a ladder and fell into a cargo hold containing fertiliser. Fortunately this cushioned his fall somewhat although he was still seriously injured. Netcare 911 paramedics and SA Police Services Search & Rescue personnel were called to assist and after first stabilising the injured man he was lifted out and taken to hospital with serious spinal injuries. A second incident the following day also occurred at Maydon Wharf when a large lorry suffered apparent brake failure and drove over the quay wall into the harbour. There were no injuries and the driver was able to abandon the sinking vehicle. According to Chris Botha of Netcare 911, the SA Police Search & Rescue team was again called in – this time to supervise the recovery of the vehicle using a mobile crane summoned for the purpose. Paramedics were in attendance to ensure the safety of the rescue team. In other port news berth 107 at the Durban Pier 1 Container Terminal received its first ship last week when the container vessel NYK Estrela went alongside. Although there’s been no official announcement, this means all three berths at the terminal are now back in service, having undergone extensive modification resulting in the terminal becoming the first in South Africa to be equipped with five rubber tyre gantries (RTGs) in addition to large ship-to-shore gantry cranes. Ngqura and Cape Town terminals are also to be equipped with RTGs.