No answers yet on why port straddle toppled

It is not yet clear what caused a straddle carrier to topple at Port Chalmers, sending its pilot 14m to the ground, earlier this week.

Port Otago chief executive Geoff Plunket said Port Otago's investigation into the matter was under way but it would be ''some time'' before answers were available.

The straddle carrier toppled on Wednesday afternoon, resulting it its 26-year-old pilot being taken to Dunedin Hospital with ''very serious injuries''.

 

A WorkSafe spokesman said there was ''no update'' on WorkSafe's investigation into the matter.

''WorkSafe is still investigating,'' the spokesman said.

The straddle carrier was moved yesterday as investigations into the crash continue.

Mr Plunket said it was not clear what caused the straddle to topple, but it did not crash into anything, nor was it struck by any objects.

''The investigation is getting under way,'' he said.

''The first phase of any investigation is information gathering and then interviewing anyone who witnessed the incident and [review] CCTV footage we have got and look at the information on the straddle carrier and try and piece together what happened. That will take some time.

''We need to work through that systematically.''

Professional support services remained available for those staff who required them after the traumatising incident.

''It's come as a terrible shock to us all,'' he said.

''We put a great focus on safety, so it's come as a great shock to all staff.''

The company and its staff needed time and space to deal with the incident.

''It's going to be a complex investigation,'' he said.

''It's going to take a while to truly understand what happened ... and I think you need to give us a little bit of space to learn the lessons that are there to be learned.''

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