JOC Staff | Mar 12, 2013 5:40PM EDT
Cargo-handling at the Port of Tacoma ceased Tuesday afternoon as longshoremen mourned the loss of a crane mechanic.
Scott Mason, president of International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 23, said the 46-year-old mechanic was performing routine maintenance work “when something went wrong.” The mechanic had been a member of ILWU Local 23 for the past seven years.
The name of the deceased is being withheld pending notification of his family members. Mason said the mechanic was married and the father of one son.
“This is devastating,” Mason said. It emphasizes once again that the longshore profession involves dangerous work, he said.
All terminals at the port will remain closed until 7 a.m. on Wednesday. A portwide shutdown following a fatality is standard practice at West Coast ports, Mason said.
