Fitting electronic sensor devices to all quay crane booms to prevent them accidentally colliding with vessels could save the ports industry millions of dollars of damage and operational downtime.

The TT Club has received over 150 port insurance claims in the last five years resulting from the booms of quay cranes hitting vessels. These collisions vary from minor impacts with the bridge of the ship, to one incident which resulted in around two million US dollars worth of cost by the combination of damage to the crane boom itself and the ship's crane, as well as major business interruption due to the quay crane being out of service for six months. In total, boom collisions account for nearly 50% of the asset-related cost of incidents involving quay cranes.

The Club has previously provided advice on the need to ensure adequate boom anti-collision sensors are installed. While the number of these incidents per year has been reducing since 2007, it is notable that the costs of this type of insurance claim are trending upward. In order to avoid fluctuation in values, the chart below expresses the costs as a percentage of total crane valuation.