The Norwegian freighter Star Java is now back in open waters after an industrial accident at the Squamish Terminals that claimed the life of one crewman Monday (Aug. 18).Just before 3 p.m. Monday, the Star Java's crew members were stowing heavy machinery in preparation for departure in two hours' time. A 58-year-old Filipino member was on a gantry approximately 50 feet off the deck assisting by radio with the storage of a crane used for loading and unloading. No one is sure what happened next. "Somehow there was miscommunication and as a result, this male was injured," said RCMP Cpl. Dave Ritchie. The man, whose identity is still being withheld pending notification of kin, was crushed by the crane, sustaining severe injury. A Terminals first aid attendant initially attempted to treat the man. RCMP, BC Ambulance and Fire Rescue arrived shortly in response to the call for assistance that went out at 3:05 p.m."We had to set up a high angle rope rescue system to bring him down from up top onto the ship's deck," said firefighter Bob Fulton.A flight paramedic unsuccessfully attended to the man for "a long time," said Fulton. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The duty to secure equipment fell entirely to ship's crew, so no terminal staff was involved, according to Ritchie.It's now up to investigators to determine the exact cause of the industrial accident. The Transportation Safety Board (TSB) typically investigates such incidences, but spokesperson Raymond Mathew said the agency wouldn't be following up since it was "an open and shut case.""It's not a big issue. I know a person was killed, but I don't think we can recommend anything in this," said Mathew. "If these kind of accidents kept happening in Canadian waters, than we would look to see what the cause is, then we would look into to all the different incidents and see if there was a trend. So this is something that was unforeseen. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time, so there's nothing to learn from that."Questions remain over the miscommunication and, more precisely, how to prevent such an incident from happening again."Just in reading the file, they've determined that they did have a radio procedure in place, but somehow that broke down," said Ritchie. "That's what we're investigating with the coroner, taking statements from people, seeing what was done, or what could've been done, or should've been done to prevent anything, and that's what eventually will come out of it with the Coroner's Service and Transport Canada." Transport Canada spokesperson Jillian Glover said she was unsure how long an investigation would take."The ship has left, so we have to wait, and we are obtaining further information from the company."
