An investigation has found that the monitoring of two vessels that crashed into each other in Tauranga last year fell well short of good practice.
The collision occurred at about 4am on 28 July 2021 about 84 nautical miles northeast of Tauranga (file picture). Photo: CC BY-SA 3.0 NZ / http://www.freephotogallery.info / Ed Kruger
A container ship and fishing boat collided on 28 July last year, at about 4am.
No one was injured, but the container ship suffered scraping and the fishing boat's stabiliser arm and wheelhouse were damaged.
The Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) found the fishing boat had detected the container ship on radar, but made no attempt to sight it.
Its report said that the watchkeeping standards fell well short of industry practice on both the fishing vessel Commission and the container ship, the Kota Lembah.
TAIC found the fishing boat had detected the container ship on radar, but made no attempt to sight it.
There was also no one keeping watch in the wheelhouse when the crash happened.
TAIC's report said the container ship did not properly give way to the fishing boat, and the fishing boat's skipper was probably too tired at the time.
The report advised that when two vessels deviate from the rules for preventing collisions, a collision becomes almost inevitable.
Vessels must be resourced properly so that fatigue can be managed appropriately, the report said.
Anyone who is involved in keeping a navigational watch must be knowledgeable about the collision prevention rules, it said.