New Partner in Providence Port Operation Linked to 7 Workers Deaths in 10 Years
GoLocalProv News Team
New Partner in Providence Port Operation Linked to 7 Workers Deaths in 10 Years
The mega-company is based out of Seattle, Washington.
A GoLocal review found a series of safety violations and numerous worker deaths tied to SSA Marine's operations.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThe company, its related company, SSA Terminal, and its parent company, Carrix, have been hit with millions in safety and environment fines, according to the website Violation Tracker.
Carrix is owned by the $40 billion Blackstone Infrastructure Partners, "the world’s largest alternative asset manager."
7 Workers Deaths in 10 Years
SSA Marine has a checkered track record on worker safety and is tied to multiple worker deaths. According to CAL/OSHA reports and other news sources, seven workers died in ten years.
Less than two weeks ago, Waterson Terminal Services, LLC, the operator at ProvPort, and SSA Marine announced they "agreed to enter into a joint venture to invest in WTS and support its continued growth as a leading provider of terminal management and stevedoring services for bulk, breakbulk, automobile, and offshore wind customers in New England.”
On Wednesday, it was announced the triad of ProvPort, Waterson Terminal, and SSA Marine signed a lease to develop East Providence’s "South Quay."
For the third time in six years, a branch of one of the world’s largest cargo-handling companies has been accused by workplace safety authorities of a willful violation linked to a worker’s death.
The most recent case, stemming from a death at the Port of San Diego, also marked at least the seventh time in a decade that a worker for SSA Marine Inc. has been killed on the job, according to government records.
Cal/OSHA announced last week that it is seeking $205,235 in penalties from SSA Pacific Inc., a division of Seattle-based SSA Marine Inc., for violations related to the death of Phillip Vargas, a 54-year-old stevedore and member of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 29.
The company was then placed in OSHA's Severe Violator Enforcement Program.
The cumulative number of deaths was even more tragic.
"The most recent case, stemming from a death at the Port of San Diego, also marked at least the seventh time in a decade that a worker for SSA Marine Inc. has been killed on the job, according to government records," reported Salon.
One of the deaths linked to SSA Marine was the death of 47-year-old Longshoreman Steve Saggiani.
According to the union, “ILWU Local 94 longshore worker Steve Saggiani was killed in a waterfront accident on January 19, 2012, at the age of 47. OSHA announced that 'SSA Marine failed to prevent this worker from being in harm’s way.' The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) cited SSA Marine in regard to an employee being crushed by a container at the Port of Long Beach..."
"The willful violation involves failing to prohibit employees from working beneath a suspended container. A willful violation is one committed with intentional knowing or voluntary disregard for the law's requirements, or with plain indifference to worker safety and health. The citation carries a proposed penalty $70,000," announced OSHA, six months after Saggiani's death.
"Three serious violations include exposing workers to crushing hazards when they were permitted to pass near or around the deck loads, failing to provide accident prevention courses to immediate supervisors of a cargo handling operation of more than five persons and failing to provide supervisors who oversee five or more machinery operators with training on accident prevention within 90 days of their appointments. A serious violation occurs when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known. The citations carry proposed penalties of $21,000," OSHA added.
More recently, a worker died in Oakland, California.
In June of 2023, a worker was killed in the port operated by SSA Marine.
And, SSA Marine was named in a federal civil lawsuit after 10 firefighters were injured in the summer of 2020 in Florida.
The lawsuit, filed by the Pajcic & Pajcic law firm, held Hoegh Autoliners, SSA Marine and other companies responsible for the firefighters’ injuries stemming from the cargo ship fire and resulting explosion.
Attorney Curry Pajcic, who represents the plaintiffs, told 4Jax that the ship had no flooding sprinkler system or standpipes that firefighters could have used. He said the ship’s crew shut down its fire alarm system while the ship was in port and did not call 911 when the fire started.
“These 10 firefighters are true American heroes,” Pajcic said at the time the lawsuit was first filed. “They ran into the storm, a storm created by an irresponsible company and ill-equipped crew and dangerous cargo. It was a recipe for disaster.”
"The NTSB determined the probable cause of the fire aboard the Höegh Xiamen was Grimaldi Deep Sea’s (who time chartered the vessel) and SSA Atlantic’s (Grimaldi’s contractor for stevedores) ineffective oversight of longshoremen, which did not identify that Grimaldi’s vehicle battery securement procedures were not being followed. This resulted in an electrical fault from an improperly disconnected battery in a used vehicle on cargo deck 8. Contributing to the delay in the detection of the fire was the crew not immediately reactivating the vessel’s fire detection system after the completion of loading. Contributing to the extent of the fire was the master’s decision to delay the release of the carbon dioxide fixed fire extinguishing system," wrote the NTSB in its findings.
SSA Marine Response
SSA Marine did not respond to questions from GoLocal about its safety history. The company's website states, "At SSA Marine, safety is the number one job requirement for everyone. We engage in operations only when we can perform them in a safe manner, while maintaining the productivity and efficiency for which we are known."