Abstract: At approximately 5:45 p.m. on June 11, 1998, Employees #1 and #2, of General Electric, and Employees #3 and #4, of Connex-Metalna, were participating in a test of an ore-unloading crane (ship unloader) near Convent, LA. During normal operations, the ship unloader is used to move iron ore from barges to a conveyor belt that ran the entire length of a pier, parallel to the river. The crane would traverse the pier on rails set approximately 39.5 ft apart. The crane had the capacity of 40 metric tons and was capable of moving about 1,500 metric tons of ore per hour. Hoisting speed varied from 1.5 to 3.0 seconds and the trolley could move the length of the boom with a rated load in approximately 5.0 seconds. At the time of the accident, the crane was undergoing the 25 percent over-capacity test, as required by maritime standards for certification. Employees #1 through #4 were on the crane when it fell into the Mississippi River. Employees #1 and #2 sustained multiple injuries and were transported to Lady of the Lake Hospital in Baton Rouge, LA. Employee #3 sustained only minor injuries. Employee #4 drowned and his body was recovered the following week down river from the accident site. Several workers on the pier and on the barge adjacent to the pier also sustained minor injuries, for which they were treated and released.