Pinoy Seafarer Dies in Accident at Port of Savona, the eighth casualty since Jan., says CGIL

Philippine Seafarer Dies in Accident at Port of Savona
2019-07-18 https://www.maritime-executive.com/article/philippine-seafarer-dies-in-a...

On Thursday afternoon, a Philippine seafarer was killed when he fell more than 60 feet into an empty hold aboard the bulker Ilektra. The victim was working on maintenance above the hold when he fell, according to local authorities, and he was killed instantly.

The accident occurred during cargo operations at the port of Savona, Italy. The port's operation has been suspended until 1400 hours on Friday, according to local media.

Three Italian transport unions have declared a series of strikes on Friday to protest the fatality. "Unfortunately we are here to denounce the umpteenth fatal accident that has happened in a port, the eighth since the beginning of the year, and this is no longer acceptable," said Fabrizio Castellani, secretary of the union CGIL. "For this reason, as a first initiative, we have proclaimed 24 hours of dockers' strike throughout the port of Savona."

CGIL will be joined by the unions CISL and Uiltrasporti in the strike. In a statement, they jointly called for a safety roundtable to come up with better prevention measures, and said that they would not rule out further industrial action if needed.

Savona's mayor expressed solidarity with the victim's family, and he warned that workplace fatalities are becoming all too common in Italy, despite stringent regulations. M5S party regional councilor Andrea Melis called on "interested parties to take action to implement controls, so that events like this are no longer repeated."

The Ilektra is a 2017-built geared bulker owned and operated by a Greek company. She is flagged in Liberia.