Shiploader Collapses at Brazil's Recife Port

An accident with a shiploader at the sugar terminal in the Recife port in Northeastern Brazil suspended loading operations at the site, according to a note from shipping company Williams Brazil late on Thursday.

The company said the shiploader collapsed and a part of the machine fell inside the cargo hold of a vessel that was docked at the port to load raw sugar.

The press service at the Recife port confirmed the accident, adding that nobody was hurt.

The port said experts are evaluating the situation and there is still no time frame for the repair. It said the collapsed shiploader was the only one at the terminal, which is managed by Sindacucar, a sugar industry association.

Recife is not a major commodities port in Brazil, but it regularly ships sugar during some months of the year.

According to port line-up information, there were three vessels currently waiting to load 71,000 metric tons of raw sugar at the port. The buyers of the sugar were Louis Dreyfus, Tate & Lyle and ASR, said Williams, with destinations of the United States and Portugal.

The port said it is evaluating ways to complete loading of the vessel currently docked as well as alternatives to load any other vessel.

(Reuters - Reporting by Marcelo Teixeira; Editing by Bill Berkrot and Josie Kao)