HK-flagged box ship destroys 3 Turkish quay cranes

 A HONG KONG flagged containership, the YM Witness, owned by Taiwan's Yang Ming Marine Transport Corporation, resulted in a major collision while docking at the Evyap Port east of Istanbul, reports Bangalore's Marine Insight.

The deck of YM Witness collided with one crane as it pulled into the dock, causing three of the four cranes to topple. At least one individual operating a crane at that time was seriously injured.

Vessel owner Yang Ming Shipping, will likely be held responsible for the financial impairment brought about by YM Witness.

The vessel was operating along the firm's MD3 eastbound Mediterranean shipping channel. Per UDN, Yang Ming Marine Transport Corporation will contact businesses whose merchandise may be impacted by the delays resulting from the incident.

When the ship arrived at the private container port Evyaport in Kocaeli at 1.40 pm, it was unable to stop and knocked over the cranes.

The operator of one of the cranes was seriously injured in the incident. The vessel had a pilot aboard but for unknown reasons appeared to be coming towards the dock at a steep angle and was unable to stop in time.

Several containers were also knocked from the vessel into the water when the gantries collapsed onto its deck. Local police and fire responded to the incident which was currently under investigation.