The Moana Chief. Photo: Swire Shipping
A Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) report into a ship worker's leg injury has found the Moana Chief's operator lacked safety culture.
On 10 December 2021 the Moana Chief container vessel was preparing to leave Auckland Port.
The crew began stowing away the ship's telescopic ladder when it slipped off the platform, sliding all the weight upwards, trapping and seriously injuring a crew member's leg.
The worker was standing in a previously designated danger zone, but no attempts were made by other crew to warn the winch operator.
The report found the method of stowing the ladder disregarded the vessel's health and safety management systems, with several measures of stowing the ladder being ignored.
It found there was a weak safety culture aboard the vessel, with the operator failing to identify the ladder falling off its platform as a hazard, and no action being taken to control the risk.
TAIC put a recommendation to the ship's company Swire Shipping, which has since updated its health and safety designs.