Keppel Corp has suffered its third fatality in less than six months at its shipyard in Singapore.
A Bangladeshi worker went missing after he fell into the sea after part of a concrete pier collapsed at a Tuas shipyard on Monday.
The missing worker is said to be employed by Kumarann Marine. Another worker also fell into the sea during the incident but was rescued.
A crane was standing on the pier when it collapsed on Monday, causing it to topple onto a vessel that was berthed next to the pier, Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower (MOM) told local media.
“We can confirm that an incident occurred yesterday at Keppel Shipyard in Tuas where a section of the quayside gave way causing two workers to fall into the sea and a crane to tilt to the side. We have rescued one of the workers who is in a stable condition, while the other worker is currently missing,” a Keppel Shipyard spokesperson told TradeWinds sister publication Upstream.
In a Facebook posting, The Migrant Workers’ Centre (MWC) said it was “gravely concerned by yet another workplace accident involving a collapsed shore crane at a shipyard in Tuas”.
“We will also extend counselling services to the workers who were working near the accident through our partners when the need arises,” it added.
The MWC is a non-government organisation that aims to champion fair employment practices and the well-being of migrant workers in Singapore.
The MOM, which probes workplace safety breaches and workplace deaths in Singapore, is investigating the cause of the accident and has halted all work being performed at the pier.
In March this year, two Bangladeshi men, aged 30 and 42, died after they fell from a vessel in dry dock at the Tuas shipyard.
They were among three men working on scaffolding on the vessel when the structure collapsed. The third worker, a 25-year-old Bangladeshi, managed to cling on to the structure and was rescued by the shipyard’s emergency response team.
There is growing concern in Singapore over the rising number of work-related deaths and major injuries this year which stood at 32 as of the beginning of August.
Last year workplace deaths in Singapore were near pre-pandemic figures with 37 fatalities across multiple industries, close to the 39 deaths in pre-pandemic 2019.
Major injuries declined slightly from 629 in 2019 to 610 in 2021, but last year involved a smaller workforce due to the virus.
The ministry did not disclose details of workplace fatalities and major injuries by industry, so it is unclear how many of these incidents occurred in the maritime sector.
