Ladder Accident Attributed to Weak Safety Culture
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…
NZ Report: Human Error to Blame for Rena Grounding
New Zealand's Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) published its final report into the grounding of containership Rena in October 2011. The TAIC’s investigation found that the grounding was a result of improper crew practices, and that equipment/machinery malfunction played no part in the incident. According to the report, the Liberian-registered containership Rena had left the New Zealand port of Napier at 10:20 a.m. on October 4, 2011 bound for the New Zealand port of Tauranga. The master had given an estimated time of arrival at the Tauranga pilot station of 3 a.m.
Cause of Harbour Cat Fire Determined
The New Zealand Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) released the Marine Occurrence Report relating to the engine room fire on the passenger ferry Harbour Cat in Auckland Harbor on 16 January 2003. While the ship was proceeding from Birkenhead to Auckland, a fire was discovered in the starboard engine space. The fire was extinguished and the ship proceeded to port on its port engine. One crewmember suffered smoke inhalation. The owner was advised to remind all crews that opening an access to investigate a fire may exacerbate the fire and appropriate caution should be exercised. In the future, such ferries should be equipped with remote fire detection and extinguishing systems. Source: HK Law
Near Miss in New Zealand
The New Zealand Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) issued a report of the near grounding of the ferry ARATERE on September 29, 2004. The ferry was entering Tory Channel, a restricted waterway, when it failed to make a programmed course alteration while in automatic steering. The master intervened and made a manual alteration of course moments before the ferry would have grounded at full speed. The cause of the problem has not been definitely determined, but it appears that the automatic navigation and track steering system probably defaulted to autopilot mode because it received an erroneous signal from an external input…
