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Illustration; Image Courtesy: JCIT

A lashing operator was found dead at Jakarta International Container Terminal (JICT), part of Hutchison Ports, on December 6, a local union said.

The body of the Indonesian worker was found floating near the stern of Yang Ming’s containership Louds Island, according to an account from a JCIT quay crane operator, cited by workers union Serikat Pekerja Jakarta International Container Terminal (SPJICT).

The captain of the vessel lodged a complaint in a letter seen by World Maritime News to the JCIT terminal 1/ the stevedoring company “for all delays and consequences of the incident.”

As disclosed by the captain, the lifeless body was recovered by the local services after being detected drifting in the water, near the ship’s stern, during the vessel’s loading and unloading operations at the Jakarta port.

The ship is owned by CV Three L.L.C and chartered by Yang Ming.

International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) confirmed the incident saying that this is the second worker to lose his life at the Hutchison’s terminal in Jakarta in two months, and the fourth worker to have died at the terminal in past 15 months.

The union stated that no proper investigation, usually a joint investigation between JICT team and local authorities, into the death has been undertaken by JICT management.

“We are shocked and alarmed by the continuing carnage at the Hutchison’s terminal in Jakarta. (…) This is an atrocious record that speaks for itself,” SPJICT Chair, Nova Hakim, said.

The ITF and SPJICT are calling on the company to conduct an official inquiry into the death and the circumstance surrounding how this worker fell overboard. The incident again raises serious questions about Hutchison’s safety procedures, the unions stressed.

“Hutchison needs to answer serious questions. Was this man provided with adequate fall protection? Was the outboard fencing on this vessel complete and compliant with international and class standards?

“Falls from height – and falls overboard – are 100% preventable. On a modern vessel, there is no reason why a worker should die from a fall from a height with proper inspections, proper management of the work environment, proper equipment and engineering controls.

“When a person falls overboard, management are often quick to blame the worker. We need to dig deeper to find the root causes of this horrible tragedy.

“Did management inspect the vessel on arrival? This is essential practice. Every ship must be inspected, even if it has been worked with many times before. A report or checklist must be done, setting out any deficiencies that were identified. A plan must be made to manage risk of the deficiencies. That’s 100% the responsibility of management in the terminal,” ITF President Paddy Crumlin said.