Soft ground causes overturn of a truck crane that crushed two cars

May 19, 2015

A truck crane overturned in Xiamen, China last week, crushing two cars, but fortunately no one was injured in the incident. Xiamen is located in south China on the coast opposite Taiwan.

One outrigger punched through the block surface where the cars were parked.

The crane, a four axle locally built model, was working in a car park when one of the outriggers punched through the concrete block surface, causing the crane to overturn onto two cars, both apparently owned by the same person. 

 

The operator had used a few bits of wood cribbing under the outrigger pads, but they were clearly insufficient for the block and ground conditions.

Two cars were crushed in the incident

A mobile crane overturned during operations and landed against a commercial building in Baltimore, MD

May 19, 2015

A three axle All Terrain crane overturned in the city of Baltimore Maryland yesterday, while setting up at outside the University of Maryland School of Dentistry, in the city center.
The crane appears to have slewed over the side with the retracted boom fully raised, counterweight in place and no outriggers set.  As a result it went over side ways, with the boom landing against the building. We understand that there were no injuries.

The overturned crane

The incident did cause a road closure though, with the machine recovered late  night. 

 

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The Mayor's Office of Emergency Management and the Baltimore City Department of Transportation were called to Fayette and Arch streets, where a mobile crane overturned during operations and landed against a commercial building at about 2 p.m. Tuesday.

No injuries were reported.

Baltimore County Fire Department crews and a building inspector were requested as a precaution to evaluate the scene. The machinery is not leaking fluids and the removal of the vehicle will be handled by the private contractor responsible for the crane, officials said.

The incident is affecting the roadway and DOT closed Fayette Street between Greene Street and MLK Boulevard. Traffic will be diverted through the evening rush.

The closure is expected to remain in effect through 10 p.m. Tuesday.
 

Hercules Sells Rigs, Cuts Workforce

Published in Oil Industry News on Wednesday, 20 May 2015

Houston-headquartered drilling contractor Hercules Offshore sold four jackups that had been previously cold stacked since 2009. Despite the sale, 11 rigs in the company’s fleet remained cold stacked, five were added to that list this year alone.

According to the company’s fleet status report from 19 May, the four sold include the Hercules 85, Hercules 153, Hercules 203, and Hercules 206. All were ABS-classed and all were built between 1980 and 1982.

The Hercules 85 was an independent leg slot jackup rated for water depths of 85ft and drilling depths of 20,000ft. Its design was a Baker Marine Services Big Foot III. The Hercules 153, Hercules 203 and 206 are all mat cantilever jackups. 

The 153 features the Bethlehem JU-150 MC design, while the 203 and 206 were the JU-200 MC design. The 153 was rated for 150ft water depth and 25,000ft drilling depths while the 203 and 206 was rated for water 200ft deep and drilling down to 20,000 ft.

News from the company has been less than positive this year. The company announced during its 1Q 2015 conference call that it reduced its workforce by 40%.

Hercules CEO John Rynd called the decision to cut back Hercules’ workforce “difficult,” saying during a quarterly conference call on 29 April that, “these are the actions we have to take.”

The 1Q 2015 report also showed a net loss of US$57.1 million, or $0.35 per diluted share, on revenue of $122.6 million for the first quarter, compared to net income of $19.9 million, or $0.12 per diluted share, on revenue of $256.7 million for the same period in 2014.

Rynd said further that 2015 will be a difficult year not just for the company but for the industry in general. “Demand for jackup rigs remains weak in every region of the world and the market is still scheduled to deliver a significant number of newbuild rigs over the next several years,” he said in a statement on 29 April.

He continued: “We expect continued weakness in rig utilization through the remainder of 2015, or at least until we see a meaningful improvement in commodity prices. Additionally, our international liftboat business continues to suffer low utilization, especially in Nigeria, which we expect to continue through this year. In response to these conditions, we have implemented a number of cost saving measures, including cold stacking several rigs, which have made a significant impact on our first quarter results and should show additional benefits in future quarters." 

Overall worldwide jackup utilization is down, according to data from Infield Rigs (see charts below). As of 18 May, data states current utilization stands at 76% down from 89% during the same week in 2014. In the Gulf of Mexico, jackup utilization is currently at 69%, down from 84% last May. 

The Middle East and Caspian region – where Hercules has three contracts with Saudi Aramco in Saudi Arabia, two which will end this year – stayed consistent at 83% during both periods (May 2015 and May 2014). 

The only area to see a spike in utilization was Latin America, which saw a double digit increase, up 11% to 77% utilization this May from last May’s 66% ultilization rate.
Source: www.oedigital.com

Flood of New Cash Sustains U.S. Oil Firms

Published in Oil Industry News on Wednesday, 20 May 2015

U.S. oil companies, still smarting from the crude price rout, are attracting a wave of new investment from unlikely sources - hedge funds and private equity firms flocking to the energy market for the first time to bet on a rebound.

By pouring billions of dollars into energy shares and bonds in the past few months these newcomers, dubbed "energy tourists" by Houston's seasoned dealmakers, have thrown a lifeline to scores of companies that a few months ago looked like potential targets for bigger rivals or distressed debt and restructuring specialists.

"You’ve got generalist funds that have never invested in energy coming out of the woodwork," Michael Ames, an energy investment banker at Raymond James, told a meeting of oil and gas executives this month.

So far this year, 40 oil and gas companies raised $18.7 billion in new share sales, while 35 firms issued $26.4 billion in debt in the first four months, Thomson Reuters data show. The share sales are the highest in at least 15 years while bond issuance is on track to be the heaviest in three years.

Ames estimated private equity firms have raised about $35 billion in dedicated U.S. energy sector funds in the past six months.

Among those that see opportunity in energy are distressed investor Marc Lasry at Avenue Capital Group and hedge fund Och Ziff Capital Management Group LLC.

With record-low interest rates and stock indexes near record highs, energy assets are one of the few sectors to offer a significant upside because of heavy losses of more than 50 percent suffered during the crude price slide, investors say.

But local veterans, mindful of past busts, worry a 34 percent rise in U.S. crude since mid-March to nearly $60 a barrel might not continue. Some also point out that debt and equity valuations imply oil prices of $85 to $90 and warn of an industry shakeout if crude prices stall.

"There's too much money in the system," said one principal at a private equity firm that has long owned oil assets but is holding off now. "We're not living in a world of reality right now."

He and others question the newcomers' ability to fully assess the risks involved in investing in the sector. The manager recalled how one investor asked him recently to explain how to calculate the worth of oil acreage. "That's like showing up at the Masters and asking how to play golf," he said.


MORE UPSIDE OR PAIN?

Yet the buyers say the sell-off in energy stocks was a classic case of market overshooting. They argue that over the next decade demand for oil will grow, fueled by emerging economies' rising energy use.

"Some smart people thought oil was going to $20," said one executive at a hedge fund, which recently bought energy securities. "But the people who bought oil a few months ago were quick, smart and right. Even a $60 price looks anomalous. I would say the long-term equilibrium is around $90."

With ample money allowing many firms to keep operating without facing a capital squeeze that would force them to sell, deals are scarce. "Everybody is buying, but nobody is selling," is how Houston dealmakers describe the M&A market.

Earlier this year, many lawyers and managers at specialized funds expected plummeting oil revenues and tightening financing would force dozens of highly leveraged firms to offload assets or be taken over.

In reality, since the crude sell-off started in June 2014, only four tiny exploration and production companies with U.S. onshore fields have filed for bankruptcy, compared with about 22 during the 2008-2009 slump, according to www.BankruptCompanyNews.com's tracking of firms with public securities.

The difference is that while credit markets seized up during the global financial crisis, now money keeps flowing to the sector, mainly via new share and debt issues.

Yet some analysts warn the inflows may have only delayed rather than averted the day of reckoning for the less financially robust companies.

Investment firm Robert W. Baird & Co estimates that several dozen U.S. oil companies still need to shore up stretched balance sheets. They could struggle if oil prices stay "lower for longer" around current levels, which producers say is a possible scenario.

Mark Hanson, oil company analyst with Morningstar in Chicago, says firms with high costs and less productive wells, like SandRidge Energy Inc, will come under pressure.

"(It will be) heading into 2016 when some of the pain becomes evident because a lot of firms have not hedged their 2016 production. Time will tell."
Source: www.reuters.com

Illinois Dollar Tree stores endanger workers with blocked exits, stacked boxes. Retail chain faces similar citations across the nation, $121K in penalties added to total

May 20, 2015

CALUMET CITY, ILLINOIS

Workers at two Chicago-area Dollar Tree Inc. stores were exposed to safety hazards from blocked exit routes and boxes piled at dangerous heights. The national retailer, who recorded sales of $8.6 billion in 2014, has been cited by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration for more than 200 safety and health violations across the nation since 2009.

OSHA proposed $121,000 in penalties for two repeated violations at the Chicago Ridge store and one repeated violation at the South Chicago Heights store. The inspections were initiated in November and December 2014 following employee complaints. 

"Workers can be injured by haphazardly stacked boxes that fall or trapped when exits are blocked. Hazards like these put worker safety in jeopardy," said Kathy Webb, OSHA's area director in Calumet City. "Employers are responsible for ensuring the safety of workers in their facilities."

In the second half of 2014, OSHA cited Dollar Tree stores nationwide for more than $900,000 in fines. 

View the citations at http://www.osha.gov/ooc/citations/DollarTreeStoresInc_1012127_1009303.pdf*

Headquartered in Chesapeake, Virginia, Dollar Tree stores operates about 5,300 retail locations and employs approximately 87,400 workers in the U.S. and Canada. The company has 15 business days from receipt of its citations to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA's area director, or contest the citations and proposed penalties before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

To ask questions, obtain compliance assistance, file a complaint, or report workplace hospitalizations, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers, the public should call OSHA's toll-free hotline at 800-321-OSHA (6742) or the agency's Calumet City office at 708-891-3800.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA's role is to ensure these conditions for America's working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.

THE LETHAL TRUCKS TAKE 5 MORE LIVES IN GEORGIA: 5 GEORGIANS KILLED IN FIERY I-16 CRASH NEAR SAVANNAH, GA IDENTIFIED

MAY 20, 2015

SAVANNAH, GEORGIA

Five Georgians ranging in age from 16 to 72 and hailing from the far northwest corner of the state to the southeast corner died Tuesday afternoon in the second fiery pileup in a month on I-16 near Savannah.

According to Georgia State Patrol spokeswoman Franka Young, traffic had come to a halt for construction on I-16 eastbound near I-95 in Pooler when the driver of a tractor-trailer failed to stop.

The tractor-trailer struck three cars and a pickup truck before hitting another tractor-trailer, which then struck a third tractor-trailer.

Two of the tractor-trailers and one of the cars, a Honda, caught fire, Young said.

The two people in the Honda were killed, along with three people in the Hyundai that was the first vehicle struck by the tractor-trailer.

Young identified those killed in the Hyundai as Wendy Melton, 39, of Reidsville, Brittanie Altman, 16, of Claxton, and Virgil Moody, 19, of Hagan, a small town near Claxton.

A tractor trailer sits on top of a crushed car after a multiple car accident on I-16 in Pooler, Ga. on Tuesday, May 19, 2015. (Ian Maule/Savannah Morning News via AP) 

The two people killed in the Honda were identified as Jerry Earnest, 71, of Varnell in northwest Georgia, and Glenda Adams, 72, of Cohutta, also in northwest Georgia.

The driver of the tractor-trailer that slammed into the cars was identified as David Gibbons, 61, of Pooler.

Pooler police Chief Mark Revenew said Gibbons survived the crash with no serious injuries.

Young said Gibbons, who works for Georgia Freightways, was pulling an empty trailer to Savannah when the wreck occurred.

“It’s too early to tell, but early indications are the driver may have fallen asleep,” said Revenew, whose officers are helping the Georgia State Patrol investigate the crash.

She said charges are pending the completion of the investigation.

The deadly collision happened less than a month after an April 22 crash involving a tractor-trailer on I-16 killed five nursing students from Georgia Southern University. The earlier wreck happened less than 20 miles west of the crash Tuesday afternoon.

9 INJURED AND 7 WERE TAKEN TO THE HOSPITAL AFTER A DECK COLLAPSE IN DEKALB COUNTY, GEORGIA

MAY 18, 2015

LITHONIA, GA (CBS46)

Police say nine people were injured and seven were taken to the hospital after a deck collapse in DeKalb County Saturday evening.

The incident happened around 11 p.m. at a home on the 1700 block of Hilton Ridge Road in Lithonia.

The deck collapsed during a party in the rear area of the home.

DeKalb County Fire Captain Eric Jackson said seven people were taken to the hospital with non life-threatening injuries.

“Boom, it just fell. Out of nowhere it just fell,” said Antonio Brown.

He was one of the people on the deck when it crashed and so was Helen Brown.

“My heart dropped,” Helen Brown said.

The family said they've only lived there a month and were gathering friends and other family members at their home after a wedding. Antonio Brown said there were nine people on the deck for 30 minutes when it collapsed. The other two told CBS46's Dontaye Carter they didn't need to see a doctor.

“It just collapsed. Boom! It fell. People went to rolling, crawling and two, three people fell completely off the deck,” Antonio Brown said.

CBS46 reached out to deck experts who said there likely hasn't been any work done on the deck in some time. 

The experts suggest having someone who specializes in deck maintenance and repairs to check it before any big gatherings, especially for older decks. 

Homeowners are encouraged to check the metal columns holding up the deck for rust and check the sturdiness of the rails - a lesson the Brown family is now learning.

“To double check everything before you move in,” said Helen Brown. “I'm just thankful I made it out alive and everybody's alright.”

Seven of the nine went to the hospital Saturday night for minor and moderate injuries. The person who manages the property for the owner, did not want give CBS46 his name, but said his crews will be there Monday to examine the deck to prepare to get it fixed.

80,000 POUNDS OF SOUR CREAM WASTED WHEN TRUCK FLIPS TO ITS SIDE NEAR OAKRIDGE, OREGON. ANOTHER LOUSY TRUCK DRIVER WHO FAILED TO NEGOTIATE A CURVE.

MAY 19, 2015

OAKRIDGE, OREGON

An overturned dairy truck on Highway 58 near Oakridge was successfully removed from the side of the road today, more than 24 hours after it crashed, the state Department of Transportation said.

The tractor-trailer rig — carrying 80,000 pounds of mostly sour cream — overturned Monday just before 9:30 a.m.

The driver was not injured. No citations were reported. 

The highway was closed two miles west of Oakridge during the recovery effort, which began Monday and was continued today. It reopened permanently at 2:30 p.m. today.

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A detour will be re-­established on Highway 58 today about two miles west of Oakridge, where the removal of an overturned tractor-trailer rig filled with sour cream and other dairy products will continue.

Heading west, the truck crashed at 9:23 a.m. Monday, state Department of Transportation spokesman Rick Little said. The truck was not blocking the highway, but the fuel tanks needed to be pumped and the 80,000 pounds of cargo needed to be offloaded before the rig could be righted and removed, Little said.

Officials expected to remove all the cargo Monday night. But they decided to wait on removing the truck until today, rather than keep a local detour in place through the night.

Sometime today, the detour using Westfir Road will be re-established and the highway will be closed for three to five hours while the truck is righted and removed. State officials on Monday night did not have an estimated start time for removing the truck today.

Officials originally thought the primary product in the trailer was cheese, but later determined that it was mostly sour cream. Efforts are being made to salvage as much of the cargo as possible to distribute to local nonprofit agencies, the Transportation Department said.

The truck’s driver appears to have failed to negotiate a curve but was not injured, Oregon State Police spokesman Bill Fugate said.

Debit-card data thefts at all kinds of ATMs soar. Thieves are stealing information to make counterfeit plastic.

 

Getty Images

A customer uses a Bank of America ATM.

MAY 20, 2015

Criminals are stealing card data from U.S. automated teller machines at the highest rate in two decades, preying on ATMs while merchants crack down on fraud at the checkout counter.

The incidents, in which thieves steal information from debit cards to make counterfeit plastic, are taking place at ATMs that are owned by banks as well as independently owned cash kiosks in shopping centers, convenience stores and restaurants, according to industry executives.

From January to April 9, 2015, the number of attacks on debit cards used at ATMs reached the highest level for that period in at least 20 years, according to FICO, a credit-scoring and analytics firm. The company tracks such incidents through its card- monitoring service for financial institutions that represent more than 65% of all U.S. debit cards.


Debit-card compromises at ATMs located on bank property jumped 174% from Jan. 1 to April 9, compared with the same period last year, while successful attacks at nonbank machines soared by 317%, according to FICO.

“These tremendous spikes in fraud are unprecedented,” said John Buzzard, who manages FICO’s card-alert service.

Source: wsj.com

NTSB Issues Update on its Investigation Into the Amtrak Derailment in Philadelphia

MAY 20, 2015

​ WASHINGTON, DC As part of its ongoing investigation into the May 12, 2015, derailment of Amtrak Train 188 in Philadelphia, the NTSB today provides the following update.  NTSB investigators have completed most of their on-scene documentation work at the accident site and at the Amtrak facilities in Delaware. Additional 3D laser scanning of the train cars will be completed in the coming weeks.  An examination of the signals systems has revealed no anomalies or malfunctions. The NTSB has possession of the Amtrak engineer’s cell phone. Additionally, under its enforcement authority, the Federal Railroad Administration subpoenaed and obtained the engineer’s cell phone records and has shared that data with NTSB forensic experts. Although the records appear to indicate that calls were made, text messages sent, and data used on the day of the accident, investigators have not yet made a determination if there was any phone activity during the time the train was being operated.  In order to make that assessment, investigators have started the process of correlating the time stamps in the engineer’s cell phone records with multiple data sources including the locomotive event recorder, the locomotive outward facing video, recorded radio communications, and surveillance video.  The processes involved in correlating time stamps for all these devices are detailed and lengthy. Because of variations in time stamps for each data source, each one must be correlated to the same time zone so that a factual timeline of events can be developed that will allow investigators to understand if any phone activity has any relevance to the accident.  Investigators interviewed the engineer of the SEPTA train that had stopped after being struck by an object that had shattered the windshield of the locomotive. The SEPTA engineer said that the Amtrak engineer announced on the radio, “hot track rail two,” to let him know that the Amtrak train was about to pass the stopped SEPTA train. He saw Amtrak 188 pass on track 2 and did not notice anything unusual.  Interviews with passengers and emergency responders will continue over the coming weeks. Investigative specialists in crashworthiness and survival factors are interviewing passengers that survived the accident in order to understand the circumstances of the evacuation as well as how injuries correlated with train car and seating positions.  Amtrak has provided the NTSB with the engineer’s training and employment records. He had been operating trains in the Washington-Boston Northeast Corridor for about three years. He had been specifically assigned the Washington-New York segment of the corridor for several weeks.  A dedicated webpage for this accident investigation has been created where all related materials to it can be accessed: http://go.usa.gov/38MUB. Additional updates will be issued as events warrant.