Summary in English

In the morning of 17 December 2023 FINNPARTNER collided with the pierhead at the berth in Malmö, Skåne county, she was heading for. On the occurrence a lamp-post on the quay was knocked over.
Shortly after, when the vessel was berthed, the master went down to assess the damage, hence went out on the pierhead. He could note that the lamp-post was not only damaged, but had fallen down into a smaller hole in the asphalted pier-surface. He could also conclude that the hole beneath the asphalt seemed to be hollowed. Before he had time to react by stepping back, a large part of the asphalt disappeared under him and he fell down several metres into the water down below. When he at last had struggled to reach the water surface he realised that he couldn’t get up due to the loose rubble. A stevedore foreman nearby saw what happened and could assist the master by the use of safety equipment on the quay.
The investigation shows that a hole in the pier submerged sheet piling had occurred in the collision and rubble flushed out into the basin. It has also turned out that any specific analyses to assess the likelihood for damage, or actions to limit any potential damage, had not been part of the procurement when the pier was constructed, thus had not been done.

Causes of the accident

The accident was caused by lack of enough protection against undercutting or scouring, and therefore could fall apart when a hole arose in the sheet piling.
Underlying causes for the accident was absence of appropriate risk analysis in connection to the construction of the pier.

Safety recommendations

SHK submits the following recommendations:
The City of Malmö and Copenhagen Malmö Port, CMP is recommended to:

• include a damage consequence risk analysis whenever port constructions are constructed, rebuilt or changed.