Australian Transport Safety Bureau News

Managers of the two vessels involved in a fatal crew transfer accident off Brisbane, Australia, had not ensured personnel had a common and complete understanding of how the transfer would be conducted, an Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) investigation has concluded.On 9 August 2021, crew were being transferred to and from the bulk carrier Formosabulk Clement via the launch boat PT Transporter in the Port of Brisbane anchorage, about five nautical miles off the coast.The operation involved multiple visits from PT Transporter to transfer crew on and off the anchored bulk carrier.

The use of a draft voyage planning tool which included waypoint data errors plus an ongoing technical fault with the vessel monitoring and surveillance system for the Great Barrier Reef contributed to a cargo ship’s grounding on a shoal, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has concluded.The 81-meter general cargo ship Trinity Bay grounded on Harrington Shoal, a charted feature with a depth of 0.9 metres north-west of Harrington Reef, on the morning of January 19, 2021 while conducting a regular weekly passage from Thursday Island to Cairns.

An interim report from an ongoing Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) investigation has detailed the sequence of events of a loaded iron ore carrier’s grounding in a channel while departing Port Hedland, Western Australia in 2022.The interim report details factual information but contains no analysis or findings.In the early hours of April 9, Liberian-flagged bulk carrier Hagen Oldendorff departed its berth at Port Hedland, with a harbour pilot onboard. About 50 minutes after departure…

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has released its investigation report into a bulk carrier’s collision with two tugs in Tasmania last year highlighting the importance of bridge resource management (BRM) and the design of bridge systems to reduce the risks of human error.On January 28, 2022, the Australian-flagged bulk carrier Goliath was turning in the swing basin to berth at the Port of Devonport, Tasmania, when it collided with two moored tugs, which subsequently sunk.

A fire that broke out during the maiden voyage of the world's first liquified hydrogen (LH2) carrier gas carrier Suiso Frontier was caused by an onboard electrical issue, an Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) investigation foundThe 116-meter vessel, built as a prototype ship to assess the technical aspects of transporting LH2 by sea, had arrived at the Port of Hastings, Victoria on January 20, 2022, on its maiden voyage.The ship had departed Kobe, Japan on December 25, 2021 with 55 t of LH2…

Fixed container securing arrangements on containership APL England were in poor state of repair and corroded prior to loss of dozens containers in heavy seas off Sydney, an Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) investigation found.The Singapore-flagged containership was making way down the east coast of Australia on May 24, 2020 when, in adverse weather, it underwent a series of heavy rolls that resulted in the loss of 50 containers overboard, and shutdown of the main engine.The…

Australia's national transport safety investigator is calling out inadequate international vessel fire safety standards and regulations in the wake of a 2018 bulk carrier fire that took five days to contain and extinguish.The 202 meter, Australian flagged self-unloading bulk carrier Iron Chieftain was discharging its cargo of dolomite at Port Kembla, New South Wales in the early hours of June 18, 2018 when friction, probably from a failed bearing, generated enough heat to ignite a rubber conveyor belt in the C-Loop internal cargo handling space.

Antarctic resupply ship MPV Everest berthed in Fremantle, Australia at 5:30 p.m. local time Tuesday, after it suffered an engine room fire earlier this month, the Australian Antarctic Division said.Australia’s chartered Antarctic resupply vessel MPV Everest was about 1,700 nautical miles south of Perth when the April 5 fire engulfed the vessel's port engine room and destroyed two inflatable rubber boats on the deck. There were no injuries to the 72 expeditioners and 37 crew on board.The ice-strengthened ship…

A preliminary investigation report published by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) details that a containership was rolling and pitching heavily in rough seas and high winds when it lost 50 containers overboard about 46 nautical miles south-east of Sydney in May 2020.The ongoing investigation’s preliminary report sets out the incident’s sequence of events and outlines that as the APL England travelled down the east coast of Australia, the Bureau of Meteorology issued regular forecasts regarding a complex low pressure system developing off the south-east of the country…

Dozens of containers lost from a ship at sea have been recovered off the coast of Australia as the country's maritime authority continues to press the vessel's owner to pay the $11 million cleanup costs.The 63 boxes plucked from the bottom of the Tasman Sea are among more than 80 lost from Yang Ming's containership YM Efficiency about 20 miles from shore in June 2018. The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) says it stepped in to handle the cleanup operations after the…

Work is underway to retrieve dozens of containers lost from a containership off the coast of Australia, with the first boxes raised to the surface this week. The first container was recovered from the seafloor on Monday using a hydraulic crane and rigging, remotely operated underwater vehicles (ROV) and a specially manufactured steel basket, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said. Another two boxes were lifted in the days following.The recovered containers are among more than 80 lost from containership YM Efficiency in the Tasman Sea…

Deficiencies in the cargo stowage arrangement ultimately caused the YM Efficiency to lose 81 containers while sailing in heavy seas off Australia in June 2018, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau's (ATSB) investigation revealed.The Liberian-flagged vessel was en route from Taiwan to Sydney when it suddenly rolled heavily in strong gale force winds and rough seas, causing the ship to lose 81 containers overboard and another 62 containers to be damaged. The containership, operated by Taiwan shipping company Yang Ming Marine Transport Corporation…

On 24 January, the IMO issued updated guidelines on fatigue. This is just another in a long series of band aids that attempt to cover over the problem without providing a solution. Fatigue is a long-standing weakness in the maritime industry. It is recognized as a major or contributing causal factor in the majority of maritime casualties. As is well-known, fatigue is caused by a lack of sleep and relaxation. These, in turn, are the result of too few people being tasked with too much work. Guidance on how to recognize and manage fatigue is meaningless.

BMT has announced that the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, Australia’s national transport safety investigator, has purchased a licence for its industry leading navigation and maneuvring simulator, REMBRANDT. This follows on from other recent adopters including the UK’s Marine Accident Investigation Branch and the Dutch Safety Board. Phil Thompson, Managing Director at BMT comments: “We are seeing growing momentum and awareness within statutory bodies worldwide in the value of digital evidence generation.

According to the latest statistics, over 25 percent of people will experience a mental health problem at some point in their lives and for those working offshore, this figure is significantly and potentially dangerously higher. What’s more, the problem’s growing. So, what’s causing the rise of mental health problems within our industry and why are seafarers more likely to suffer from these issues than those working on land? Most importantly, what can be done to solve the problem and establish a happier, healthier and safer workforce on the 51,000+ merchant ships that sail our seas?

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) said that a 39-year-old New South Wales man has been crushed to death onboard a supply vessel off the Pilbara coast after a wave came over the back deck. The ATSB said crew members on the Skandi Pacific were attempting to shelter from heavy weather and secure cargo roughly 166 kilometres north-west of Karratha about 5:30am (AWST) yesterday when the wave struck. Bureau is investigating the death. Norway’s DOF Management, part of DOF Group ASA, has confirmed that a crew member was killed while working on board the 3,170 DWT anchor handling tug. Operations were suspended immediately, the emergency response team was mobilised and the vessel is now on its way back to port. The authorities have been notified, says a statement from the group.

Teams searching the Indian Ocean for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 have discovered a previously uncharted shipwreck. Search vessel Fugro Equator’s deep tow system detected a cluster of small sonar contacts in the southern part of the search area, 12 nautical miles to the east of the 7th arc. The sonar data was carefully analyzed and categorized to be “of potential interest but unlikely to be related to MH370.” It could not, however, be ruled out, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) said.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has awarded Fugro an additional contract for the deployment of two specialist vessels, equipment and expertise in the deepwater search for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight 370 (MH370). Fugro will mobilize its vessels Fugro Equator and Fugro Discovery, both fitted with specialist deep tow survey systems for the work. Since June, the Fugro Equator has been involved in the bathymetric survey of the search area. Fugro and ATSB expect the Fugro Discovery to begin the deep tow search late September with Fugro Equator joining shortly thereafter.

Australia's Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC) says that a bathymetric survey of the 60,000km2 search area is well underway, with two vessels, the Australian-contracted Fugro Equator and the Chinese survey ship Zhu Kezhen, mapping the ocean floor, while the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) is coordinating this work. JACC explains that the bathymetric survey will provide crucial knowledge of the seafloor terrain to begin the actual underwater search. The ATSB is currently assessing tender documentation to engage a primary contractor to manage this complex operation. The underwater search is likely to commence in early September and take up to 12 months to complete.

Australia, Malaysia and China have decided to extend the search area in the southern Indian Ocean, which represents the highest priority for future search efforts for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, informs Australia’s JACC. An expert satellite working group has reviewed all existing information in order to define a search zone of up to 60,000 square kilometers along the arc in the southern Indian Ocean. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development Warren Truss said the latest search area refinement had involved the efforts and expertise of specialists from around the world. “Specialists have…

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has awarded Fugro a contract that will see the deployment of its specialist vessel, equipment and expertise in the underwater search for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight 370 (MH370). Using its advanced survey vessel, the Fugro Equator, fitted with state-of-the art multibeam echosounder equipment, Fugro will conduct a bathymetric survey of the search area. The seabed data obtained will assist in the production of maps of the seabed offshore Western Australia.

Australia’s Joint Agency Coordination Centre informs that no signs of aircraft debris have been found by the Autonomous Underwater Vehicle 'Bluefin-21' since it joined the search effort. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has advised that the search in the vicinity of the acoustic detections can now be considered complete and in its professional judgement, the area can now be discounted as the final resting place of MH370. acquiring the specialist services required for a comprehensive search of the sea floor in that area. The expert satellite working group continues to review and refine complex analyses of radar and satellite data and aircraft performance data to determine where the aircraft most likely entered the water.

Australia's Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC) informs that the vessel 'ADV Ocean Shield' has arrived at Geraldton, Western Australia,  to begin preparations to receive spare parts related to the transponder mounted on the 'Ocean Shield' and the transponder mounted on the Autonomous Underwater Vehicle, 'Bluefin-21'. JACC explains that the repairs are necessary to correct a hardware issue affecting the ability of the transponders to communicate with each other during a dive. The problem became apparent during Bluefin-21's last mission on Tuesday. Ocean Shield  was originally going to Dampier to await the transponder parts, however, it was determined that the parts could be delivered to the ship more quickly via the port of Geraldton.