Transport investigators want government to give Maritime NZ legal power to ban ships

RNZ News

3 days ago

The MV Shiling in Wellington.
Photo:
Angus Dreaver / RNZ
Transport accident investigators want substandard ships banned from New Zealand waters.
That's the recommendation of the Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) in its final report into the container ship Shiling, which
twice had to be rescued and towed back to port
in Wellington in 2023.
It wants the Ministry of Transport to consider legislating to give Maritime New Zealand the authority to ban unseaworthy ships from Aotearoa.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority has this power.
TAIC's chief investigator of accidents, Naveen Kozhuppakalam, said substandard ships represented a real risk to their crew members and to New Zealanders - including coastal and harbour pilots, stevedores and other contractors - and to the coastal environment.
"The commission found that the Shiling had a history of deficiencies and that it's virtually certain the ship wasn't seaworthy while in New Zealand."
On 15 April 2023, the Shiling was being piloted outbound from Wellington and had just initiated a turn into the harbour entrance channel when it suffered a total loss of electrical power, which caused the main engine to stop.
The ship's momentum carried it into shallow wate, and the crew used both anchors to prevent grounding. Harbour tugs then
towed the Shiling back to its berth
for repairs.
"The commission found that a cracked cylinder liner in an auxiliary generator caused the blackout. It found the ship's generators and several other safety-critical systems were in a deteriorated condition, despite the ship holding valid statutory and classification society certificates," said Kozhuppakalam.
Following repairs, the Shiling departed Wellington again on 12 May 2023 and sheltered from adverse weather off the New Zealand coast. Upon entering the Tasman Sea, the ship's main engine stopped again - this time because bilge water contaminated its lube oil.
Kozhuppakalam said with no way to restart the engine, the master made a Mayday call and a tow-capable vessel sailed from New Plymouth and towed the Shiling to sheltered waters, and eventually
returned it to Wellington
for further repairs.
"Rubber diaphragms designed to prevent water from entering the lube oil tank had deteriorated with age. It's very likely the diaphragms had gone uninspected for years."
Transport Accident Investigation Commission chief investigator of accidents Naveen Kozhuppakalam.
Photo:
RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Maritime New Zealand detained the Shiling for repairs and survey, and the ship
eventually departed for Singapore
in July 2023.
"The commission is calling on the Ministry of Transport to consider legislating to give Maritime New Zealand the authority to ban certain ships from New Zealand. The Australian Maritime Safety Authority has this power."
TAIC's surface investigations manager, Louise Cook, said what that legislation would look like would have to be nutted out between Maritime New Zealand and the Ministry of Transport.
"Obviously, there'd have to be criteria that were met. There'd have to be enough information available to the director to make an assessment of the suitability of that vessel entering New Zealand waters. The safety of that vessel to ... New Zealand waters."
Cook said it was possible to identify if ships had persistent issue with seaworthiness.
"There's what's called the Tokyo Memorandum of Understanding [across Asia Pacific region] and if there's frequent deficiencies identified with vessels then the vessel will get listed and so certain information is available. Also port-side inspection information is shared between different countries.
"This ability to ban is something that Australia already have. So the Australian Maritime Safety Authority, if they have sufficient information to consider a vessel as substandard. They can ban it from entering Australian waters."
Cook said even though the Shiling had valid statutory and classification society certificates, vital maintenance had not been done.
"So, the certificates cover a wide range of different requirements, but once they're issued, of course, the vessel needs to continue to have its safety critical equipment and systems maintained appropriately. So it's that part, that was lacking with regards to the Shiling."
She said the ability to ban unseaworthy ships from New Zealand waters would be a significant boost to safety.
"Absolutely. There's the crew, of course, who are on the vessel, it's a risk to their lives. But for example, during the first event with the Shiling in April of 2023, there was a pilot, a New Zealand pilot on board the vessel taking it out of the Wellington Harbour. So, they were on board at the time and we would argue, that their life was put unnecessarily at risk as well."
Cook said it was only the pilot's decision to drop anchor that stopped the container ship running aground.
The MV Shiling is towed into Wellington harbour.
Photo:
Supplied / Michael Lanzensberger
TAIC also recommended improvements to New Zealand's
tow-salvage capability
.
"The presence of suitable tow vessels in New Zealand isn't guaranteed. It was just fortunate that a suitable vessel happened to be in New Plymouth and able to respond.
"The Commission is aware that the government has contracted an open-ocean tug until June 2026, and that a business case is underway to explore emergency towing capability.
"This is an important safety issue, so TAIC recommends continuing work to develop and implement a comprehensive maritime incident response strategy and to strengthen salvage and rescue capability," said Kozhuppakalam.
TAIC has also identified several safety issues relating to the international and domestic systems for regulating foreign-flagged ships and the ability of ship owners to devolve their responsibilities for safe operations to third parties without regulatory consequences.
It has made recommendations to Maritime New Zealand to address these matters through the International Maritime Organization.
The Commission's purpose is to improve transport safety by avoiding repeat accidents, rather than by ascribing blame.
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