Dubai’s DP World confirms 10 injured in ship accident at Jebel Ali port

Dubai ports operator DP World has confirmed that 10 people were injured in an accident involving a container vessel at the Jebel Ali port last week.

The incident occurred when the vessel collided with the harbour wall at the port’s Terminal 1 on Thursday, May 4.

Nine people sustained minor injuries and were treated at the DP World Medical Clinic at the terminal, DP World said in a statement on Monday.

One person, who suffered a fractured arm and leg, was taken to hospital and is currently in a stable condition, it added.

“While berthing, a CMA CGM container vessel collided with the harbour wall striking the leg of a quay crane causing it to fall. A second crane was also shifted off its rails during the incident but remained upright and stable,” DP World said.

“Our first priority is the safety and wellbeing of our employees and all visitors to the port. DP World’s terminal safety teams responded immediately to the incident and head office global safety teams joined them on site within five minutes.

“Working with external emergency response teams, the area was evacuated and an exclusion zone created. Safety drones were also deployed to survey the area, locate anyone in need of medical assistance and to ensure the safety of the responding crews.”

The company said that an investigation is currently underway to establish the cause of the incident.

“The collapsed quay crane will be removed following all necessary safety procedures once the investigation has been completed. The second crane is under assessment for structural integrity and not in use until further notice,” it added.

DP World also stated that all necessary measures were taken to “minimise disruption of service to customers during the emergency response activation and in the subsequent investigation phase”.

The Jebel Ali port – operated by DP World – is the largest marine terminal in the Middle East and is ranked the ninth largest container port worldwide. It has over 90 weekly services connecting more than 140 ports worldwide.

DP World is currently carrying out an expansion which will bring its total handling capacity to 22.1 million TEU by 2018.