Rostock officials to decide Sunday on historic shipyard crane at risk of collapse
A boom on Rostock's historic slipway crane is at risk of falling, forcing about 100 people from their homes. Storm winds mean heavy-lift cranes cannot be deployed until after the weekend at the earliest.
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Officials in the northern German city of Rostock are set to decide on Sunday how to deal with a historic slipway crane at risk of collapse on the former Neptun shipyard site. Damage was found on a load-bearing strut of its boom, and the city said parts could fall. “A boom is not properly secured and is threatening to fall,” city spokesman Ulrich Kunze said, according to dpa.
As a precaution, residents of 44 apartments and users of 15 commercial units on Hellingstrasse, about 100 people in all, were told to leave. The city set up an emergency shelter in a school gym. No one was injured, and a wide area has been cordoned off. Because the crane is too unstable for rescuers to climb, the damage is being assessed with drones.
Options include propping up the boom, partly dismantling it or removing it entirely, which requires at least two heavy-lift cranes whose use depends on wind speed. With storm gusts forecast, work is not expected to start before Monday. The 1976 crane is a listed technical monument and now also serves as a wedding venue. It is unclear when residents can return.