Maritime Nz News

Maritime NZ has issued a detention notice against a log carrying vessel, currently anchored off Tauranga.On Monday 24 July, the Panamanian flagged Achilles Bulker was departing Tauranga, bound for China when it encountered steering problems. It was subsequently determined that the rudder had disconnected from the ship during the outbound pilotage.The vessel remains anchored off Mount Maunganui, and the rudder was recovered by divers last week and brought to shore.Due to the rudder failure, the Achilles Bulker will need to be towed to a dry dock for repairs.Maritime NZ is working closely with the Bay of Plenty Regional Council and the…

The New Zealand Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) has released its report on the injury of a crew member during ladder operations on the container ship Moana Chief, citing weak safety culture on the part of the vessel’s operator.The incident occurred in the Port of Auckland on December 10, 2021 when the container ship Moana Chief was preparing to leave port. The crew had started to retrieve its telescopic accommodation ladder for stowing. A crew member’s leg was…

New Zealand's maritime regulatory, compliance and response agency said it is seeking feedback from the sector and other interested parties on three key pieces of work.Dialogue has been opened on Part 53, which relates to pilot transfers, and Part 23, which considers amendments to requirements for lifeboat drills, Maritime NZ said. Consultation is also set to begin on New Zealand’s work toward acceding to the Cape Town Agreement (CTA), an IMO convention dealing with design, construction and equipment standards for large fishing vessels.Maritime NZ is reviewing Rule 53.4(2)(a)…

A stevedoring company based in Tauranga, New Zealand has been ordered to pay a $90,000 fine and $20,000 in costs for safety failings that led to an excavator being dropped overboard from a logging ship in 2018.C3 Limited had previously pleaded guilty to a charge of breaching its duties under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 and was sentenced February 4 in the Wellington District Court.Maritime NZ’s central compliance manager, Blair Simmons, said that the incident, which took place at Wellington’s Centreport on June 2…

Maritime NZ has filed charges against Ports of Auckland Ltd (POAL) and an individual in relation to the death of a port worker almost a year ago.Pala’amo (Amo) Kalati was killed on August 30, 2020 after being crushed when a container was dropped during a lifting operation.The following charges have been filed in the Auckland District Court:POAL has been charged under sections 47, 48 and 90 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015.An individual has been charged under sections 48 and 49 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015.

A cargo ship master and chief engineer have been sentenced and fined after admitting to charges relating known engine problems that led to their ship to lose power and run aground at the Port of Tauranga in July.The Singapore-registered log-carrier MV Funing lost power and passed over a channel marker with the propeller becoming caught in the markerchain, before making contact with a sand bar in the Tauranga Harbor channel.A Maritime NZ investigation and subsequent prosecution…

Ports of Auckland Limited (POAL) and the master of one of its pilot boats have been fined a total of $432,400 (US$286,000) after they admitted exposing people to risk of death or serious injury because pilot boats traveled at excessive speed in the Waitemata Harbor over a period of time involving thousands of voyages.Maritime NZ Director, Keith Manch, said POAL has also agreed to pay $220,000 (US$144,000) to the family of a swimmer, Leslie Gelberger, who died after being struck by POAL pilot boat, Wakatere.

A log carrier that lost power and went adrift while leaving New Zealand's Port of Tauranga last week has been towed into port for repair and further inspection, local maritime authorities said.The Singapore-flagged Funing was outbound for Lanshan, China when it suffered engine failure and began drifting amid 30 knot winds and significant swells between Mount Manganui and Matakana Island last Monday.Powerless and adrift, the vessel snagged the chains holding a channel marker buoy, causing propeller and rudder damage.

A log carrier that lost power and went adrift while leaving New Zealand's Port of Tauranga Monday has been towed to anchorage in deeper water while it awaits further inspection, local maritime safety authorities said.The Singapore-flagged Funing was outbound for Lanshan, China when it lost engine power and began drifting amid  30 knot winds and significant swells between Mount Manganui and Matakana Island around 12:30 a.m. local time on Monday.The 180-meter ship was pushed by the wind and tides and snagged chains holding one of the buoys marking the shipping channel…

Dozens of seaports across Asia, Oceania, Middle East, Africa, Europe and Americas have pledged to remain open to merchant vessels to ensure the flow of essential goods throughout the coronavirus pandemic.To date, more than 50 port authorities have signed on to support the Port Authorities Roundtable (PAR) COVID-19 declaration, initiated by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore for ports to commit to staying open to merchant vessels and work together to share best practices in ensuring that port operations can remain undisrupted.“Now is the time…

Maritime NZ brought charges against Jianxi Chen, Captain of the Panama-flagged bulk carrier Spinnaker SW on Friday, March 29, 2019.Captain Chen was charged with permitting dangerous activity involving ships or maritime products under section 65(2) of the Maritime Transport Act 1994.Captain Chen permitted crew to load a cargo of logs onto the Spinnaker SW, without the use of personal protective equipment or systems to prevent falls from height, which caused unnecessary danger or…

Maritime NZ detained the Panama-flagged bulk carrier Daiwan Justice on Saturday, March 2, 2019, at Lyttelton after a complaint the crews’ wages had not been paid for almost four months.Maritime NZ Southern Regional Compliance Manager Michael Vredenburg said, the detention was lifted later on Saturday after the ship’s operator, Taiwanese company, Wisdom Marine International Limited, paid the crew.Last year Daiwan Fortune, another Wisdom Marine International ship, was also detained.

A French cruise company and ship’s Master have been fined $70,000 and $30,000 respectively for endangering human life and entering a prohibited zone following a grounding incident in the remote New Zealand Subantarctic islands.French company Compagnie du Ponant and Captain Regis Daumesnil, a French citizen, were sentenced Tuesday in the Wellington District Court after pleading guilty to charges following the January 2017 grounding of the cruise ship L’Austral on an uncharted rock at the Snares Islands.Both Maritime NZ and the Department of Conservation (DOC) brought charges against Captain Daumesnil, with DOC also prosecuting the company.

A New Zealand passenger vessel operator and its director have been fined more than $93,000 after a 60-year-old passenger suffered a broken back on the company’s high-speed tourist excursion boat near Cape Brett, New Zealand. In October 2014, Raewyn Russell was seated in the front row as a passenger on the high-speed tourist excursions vessel Mack Attack, a catamaran capable of speeds of up to 100 km/hr. When the boat hit a large wave at speed and landed heavily, Russell was thrown forward and on landing back in her seat heard a crack in her back.

New Zealand based fishing company Talley’s Group Ltd. has been fined $73,520 and ordered to pay $21,000 in reparations to the family of a crewman killed in an on-board accident in July 2014. The 24-year-old crewman Leighton Muir was decapitated when a broken rope snapped back while hauling in a net full of tuna aboard the Capt. M.J. Souza on July 22, 2014, when the vessel was fishing in the Kiribati Exclusive Economic Zone. Talley’s pleaded guilty to a charge laid by Maritime NZ of failing to take all practicable steps to ensure the safety of its employees while at work, and was sentenced June 9, 2016 in Nelson District Court. The court was told that a 50mm safety rope connected to the purse seine net had previously snapped three weeks before Muir’s death but had not been replaced…

A dolphin-watching charter vessel company and several company representatives have incurred fines totaling more than $16,000 after the vessel Dreamweaver became damaged by heavy seas on Auckland Harbour in February 2014, and more than 30 passengers had to be transferred to rescue boats. Maritime NZ prosecuted the vessel owner and operator, the director of the company providing crew, and the master after the incident which resulted in two passengers being knocked down and one of the vessel’s hulls filling with water. Dreamweaver Charters Limited was fined $12,750 after admitting a charge under section 65 of the Maritime Transport Act…

A review of coastal navigation safety by Maritime NZ has found that there is a sound framework in place to manage the movement of ships around the New Zealand coast, with procedures in place to assess risk and adjust safety measures if required. Maritime NZ Director Keith Manch said the review, begun in April last year, was prompted by an anticipated increase in the number of ship visits to New Zealand, a trend toward larger ships, and technology changes in navigational aids. Consideration was also give to a Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) recommendation following the grounding of the Rena that Maritime NZ collect data on shipping movements around the New Zealand coast, and monitor and control the use of virtual aids to navigation around the New Zealand coast.

Dredging NZ has been fined $79,500 and ordered to pay $42,000 in reparation after the death of a worker, crushed on a dredging barge in West Park Marina, Auckland, on November 19, 2013, Maritime New Zealand reported. Peter Bateman died after being crushed between an excavator and the wall of a hopper, on a barge being skippered by Brent Darrach. Dredging NZ was sentenced July 21 in Auckland District Court after pleading guilty to a charge laid by Maritime New Zealand under section 6 of the Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992, that as an employer it failed to take all practicable steps to ensure the safety of employees at work. In May…

Talleys Group Ltd. has been fined $48,000 and ordered to pay $35,000 in reparation to the family of a crewman killed after falling nearly seven meters on the fishing vessel Capt MJ Souza in Nelson in May 2012. The company was sentenced in Nelson District Court April 29, 2015 after being found guilty on March 23 of failing to take all practicable steps to ensure the safety of its employees after the death of crewman Cain Adams. The reparations ordered are in addition to a payment of $54,000 already made to the family by the company. Adams died while working on the Capt MJ Souza after he stepped onto a hatch on the main deck that rotated, causing him to fall nearly seven meters through another open hatch in the deck below to the floor of the vessel’s fish well.

Ports of Auckland Ltd (POAL) has been fined $55,000 and ordered to pay $25,000 in reparation to a stevedore who suffered serious injuries unloading a containership at the port in January 2014, Maritime New Zealand Media reported. POAL admitted a charge laid by Maritime New Zealand under the Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992 of failing to take all practicable steps to ensure the safety of employee, and was sentenced in Auckland District Court March 20, 2015. The stevedore was injured while attempting to dislodge a twist-lock that was stuck in the top of a two-high container stack on board the Lica Maersk. The man was using a five-meter unlocking pole which, with the weight of the twist lock, pulled him from the top of a container 15 meters down to the water.

Maritime New Zealand has approved a pause in work on salvaging the Rena while the wrecked cargo ship’s owners wait for their resource consent application to be heard. The ship's owner Daina Shipping has been seeking permission to leave sections of the wreck and some debris on Astrolabe reef, where the container ship grounded in 2011. Maritime New Zealand said the pause would take effect only once the wreck reached the state set out in the consent application, which was expected to be heard later this year. "Maritime NZ accepts that it is not reasonable to require further salvage work to be carried out, beyond what is required to reach the wreck state set out in the application, until resolution of that process," said director Keith Manch.

Maritime New Zealand (MNZ) says it invites submissions on its draft updated New Zealand Marine Oil Spill Response Strategy 2014 (the draft Strategy). The draft Strategy, (available at http://bit.ly/1pe6p46) is based on the current version but substantially updated to include lessons learned nationally and internationally in recent years and follows discussion with regional councils, the community and iwi, and industry at a series of public held earlier this year. The safety agency points out that it is important to note that the strategy does not cover the permitting and approval process for oil and gas exploitation. Neither does it cover emergency response to other hazardous and noxious substances. These issues are “out-of-scope” of this strategy.

Trans-Tasman kayaker Scott Donaldson has been successfully rescued from his kayak 83 kilometres off the Taranaki Coast, south-west of New Plymouth, says Maritime NZ. The Rescue Coordination Centre New Zealand organised for the Taranaki Rescue Helicopter to fly to Scott’s location and winch him aboard.RCCNZ Senior Search and Rescue officer Kevin Banaghan says weather conditions were deteriorating, and Scott had declared to his support crew in the morning that his situation was unsafe. Once on scene, the helicopter pilot talked to Scott by radio, then a swimmer from the rescue service went into the water. Scott then jumped into the sea from his vessel; and both were safely winched into the helicopter.