The work day at The Grand Bahama Shipyard was cut short yesterday following what is being described as  a freak accident on the property. 

Superintendent Walter Henderson explained that during police investigations, they discovered that one of the cranes being used to conduct repairs on the Oasis of the Seas cruise ship collapsed. 

He said, “eight persons received injuries, but none were life threatening. Most of them would have received local medical assistance and were released.”

According to Superintendent Henderson, all the wounded were taken to the Rand Memorial Hospital; however, at last report, most had been released. 

A statement issued by Royal Caribbean Cruises said, “As always, the safety and security of our people remain our top priority at Royal Caribbean, and we are actively monitoring the situation.”

It added, “We are aware of damage to the dock structure and to construction cranes. We are assessing damage to the ship. Dry-dock is a maintenance procedure, and there are no guests aboard the ship.”

Investigations are ongoing into what led to the accident.

The Chairman of the Progressive Liberal Party, Senator Fred Mitchell  in a statement said, “our thoughts and prayers are with those hurt in today’s  unfortunate marine incident.

“The government must move quickly to ensure the safety, security and well being of all who were injured. We must make sure that all on the property are duly accounted for.

“It is then important that we know what happened and why. The welfare of the workers of the company is also important as is the company itself.

The PLP stands ready to assist where ever we can,” said Mr. Mitchell.