Crane Fire Breaks Out During Cargo Unloading At Mumbai Port; Two Operators Hospitalized
Mumbai port crane fire injures two.
Two crane operators were injured after a crane caught fire during cargo unloading operations at the BPS port within Mumbai Port on Sunday evening, police said. The incident occurred at around 7:30 pm and involved the Barbados-flagged vessel "Vienna," which was undergoing cargo unloading at the time. A 140-metric-ton load was being lifted from the vessel with the assistance of two cranes operated by private firm Barkat Company when the accident took place, disrupting operations at the port and prompting an emergency response.
According to a detailed account provided by Mumbai Police, the incident stemmed from a technical failure during the lifting process rather than any external factor. The sling attached to the cargo on one of the two cranes became imbalanced and came loose mid-operation, causing the entire weight of the 140-ton load to shift suddenly and entirely onto the second crane. This abrupt transfer of weight was severe enough to lift the second crane partially off the ground, and its front telescopic boom struck the docked vessel as a result. The friction generated by that impact is what ultimately caused the crane to catch fire, according to the police account of the sequence of events.
The Mumbai Port Fire Brigade was alerted immediately after the fire broke out and was dispatched to the scene without delay. Fire personnel worked to bring the blaze under control before successfully extinguishing it, preventing the incident from escalating further or spreading to other equipment or vessels in the vicinity. The swift response by the fire brigade appears to have limited the damage to the crane itself and the immediate area of impact on the ship, though the full extent of physical damage to both the crane and the vessel has not yet been detailed by authorities.
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The two injured operators, identified as Ranjit Singh and Nishant Singh, both employees of Barkat Company, were taken to St. George Hospital for medical treatment following the incident. Police have not disclosed the specific nature or severity of their injuries, though the fact that they required hospitalisation indicates the incident was serious enough to warrant medical attention beyond first aid at the scene. Barkat Company, the private firm operating both cranes involved in the unloading operation, has not issued a public statement on the incident as of the time of reporting.
Police said a formal investigation has been initiated to determine the precise sequence of mechanical and procedural factors that led to the sling failure and the subsequent fire. Such investigations typically examine whether equipment maintenance schedules were followed, whether load capacities were properly assessed before the lift began, and whether standard safety protocols for dual-crane lifting operations were observed by the operators and supervising staff. Authorities have not yet indicated when the findings of this inquiry are expected to be made public, nor have they specified whether any regulatory bodies overseeing port safety standards will be involved in the review.
The incident is the latest in a series of safety-related episodes reported at port facilities in Mumbai in recent years, underscoring the inherent risks associated with heavy cargo-handling operations that rely on multiple crane systems working in close coordination. Lifting heavy, unevenly distributed loads using paired cranes requires precise synchronisation between operators, and even minor imbalances in sling tension can cascade into significant mechanical failures, as appears to have happened in this case. Authorities have not indicated whether cargo-handling operations at the BPS port have been suspended, scaled back, or subjected to additional safety checks while the investigation into Sunday's incident proceeds, and it remains unclear what immediate operational impact, if any, the episode has had on other vessels awaiting unloading at the port.
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