Five Deaths at Two Asian Sipyards

HANJIN Heavy Industries’ Philippines shipyard has recorded its second fatality in a month shortly after China’s Ningbo Shenzhou shipyard saw four workers die after a crane collapsed last week.
Jose Vener Gil, a worker of Hanjin’s subcontractor Philnorkor, was killed on lastweek  after a 250kg duct fell on him as he was unshackling it to perform a painting task.
Gil is the second worker to die at the shipyard this  lastmonth, another labourer was killed on November 20.
HHI deputy managing director Pyeong Jong Yu said the November 20 incident “was not in any way related to the shipbuilding operations, as [it] was caused by a vehicular accident as a result of human frailty”, cited local media.
The latest fatality is the 17th death at the Hanjin Subic Bay yard since the end of 2006.
Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority’s administrator and chief executive officer Armand Arreza said a full investigation had been launched and the results were expected soon.
The shipbuilder said if its contractor is found negligent, Hanjin shall take all the necessary steps to hold it liable. And whatever the result of the investigation, Hanjin would provide reasonable financial support to the family of the deceased, said Mr Pyeong.
Early last week, four workers died after a crane fell down at Shenzhou Shipyard in eastern China’s Zhejiang province Ningbo, according to Xinhua News Agency.
One of the deceased died immediately after the machine collapsed and the other three were pronounced dead later in hospital. Another worker was injured and operations at Shenzhou shipyard were halted after the accident.