Maersk boxship knocks down crane at Yantian

A Maersk-operated containership has brought down a ship-to-shore crane at China’s Yantian port after striking the structure while berthing.

The incident involved the 366-m-long, 15,516 teu Maersk Cincinnati, which hit the crane at berth 12 of the Shenzhen terminal at around noon local time on November 9.

Images and videos shared across Chinese social media show the crane collapsed towards the container yard, with sections of the structure lying alongside the vessel.

The extent of the damage remains unclear, with no confirmed reports of injuries or details of any disruption to terminal operations.

The Singapore-flagged, 2024-built boxship was operating voyage 645W on the Gemini Cooperation’s Asia-North Europe NE3 service.

AIS data placed the vessel at Yantian on Monday, with the ship still alongside on Tuesday. It had been scheduled to depart on November 11 for Ningbo and Shanghai before heading to Tanjung Pelepas in Malaysia and onward to Europe.

Strong winds may have played a part in the accident. Shenzhen’s meteorological authorities issued a monsoon warning at 6.10 am on Monday for Yantian and surrounding waters, with gusts of force 8 or above forecast.

Chinese shipping sources have pointed to sudden gusts during the berthing manoeuvre, although the cause of the collision has yet to be established.

Neither Maersk nor the terminal operator has provided a detailed account of the incident.

Yantian was the scene of a similar accident in September 2024 when a quay crane collapsed onto the 1,730 teu MSC Riona at berth two, temporarily halting operations. No injuries were reported in that incident.