A man was killed and another injured on a ship as a result of falling pipes Tuesday afternoon.
The ship ‘Honesty Ocean’ was delivering steel products to the Port of Tampa from Houston.
Around 4 p.m., workers were unloading 4-inch-wide, 30-foot-long steel pipes when a strap from a crane gave way, dropping the load.
"They were bundled together, about a ton each and then lifted, about 10 bundles, which is 10 tons that they were lifting," said Emilio Salabarria, Tampa Fire Rescue Special Operations Chief. "Many (of the pipes) hit the deck of the ship, the dock, and also [fell] back inside the cargo hold where the workers were strapping the pipes together in order to lift them out of the cargo hold."
Four men were in the cargo hold when the pipes came crashing down on them, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.
One worker, identified as 56-year-old Hercules Gilmore, of St. Petersburg, was killed. A second worker, who has not been identified yet, was airlifted to Tampa General Hospital. Deputies say his injuries are not life-threatening. The other two men were not injured.
The men were employed as stevedores, or dockworkers, for the International Longshoreman's Association, according to the sheriff's office.
According to Maritimeconnector.com, the Honesty Ocean ship is owned by a Chinese company that flies under a Panamanian flag. The ship left Houston on Sunday and arrived at the Port of Tampa Tuesday afternoon.
Nobody came to the door at Gilmore's St. Petersburg home Tuesday night but his neighbor was upset by the tragic news and said Gilmore was a good man.