The only specialised marine publication in Oceania that focuses on the maritime industry, from super yachts to small craft to large commercial ships, including coastal shipping, tugs, tow boats, barges, ferries, tourist, sport-fishing craft
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MNZ INCIDENT REPORTS CONTINUED restart the engine in time to stop settling on a shallow section of the river. The driver radioed for assistance and another boat was sent from the workshop. The passengers were transferred over and continued the trip. The K-Jet 8 was pushed back into deep water and driven back to the workshop. The main earth cable into the battery isolating switch had deteriorated. It was replaced and all other K-Jet vessels were inspected for similar problems. Waitohi, workboat, 8.5m Atua, recreational yacht, 8.5m October 26, Queen Charlotte Sound, collision It appears the Waitohi struck the Atua amidships on her port side as she was travelling north from Picton en route to Resolution Bay. The Waitohi rode over the top of the Atua, submerging her and extensively damaging the yacht's port side. The skipper and sole occupant of the Atua was thrown into the water but was rescued by a passing water taxi within minutes and treated for hypothermia. The skipper of the Waitohi was found dazed and bleeding from head wounds and kept overnight in hospital for observation. Aratere, passenger/vehicular ferry, 183m October 27, Tory Channel, equipment failure The Aratere was proceeding inwards to Picton and had just passed Arrowsmith Point when she appeared to lose engine power. She was able to keep steering although her speed dropped to about four knots. Control of engines changed to engineroom control and the ship was brought into Queen Charlotte Sound. Control returned to the bridge, power was increased and she seemed to function normally. She was tested astern and continued to Picton without further incident. Swiber Torunn, tug, 58.7m October 28, Maui B platform, oil spill The tug was transferring diesel on the northern side of the platform. The hose was connected via a dry break. Pumping had started when a leak was noticed in the dry break. Pumping stopped and the spilt diesel was cleaned up with absorbent materials. The hose was disconnected and new gaskets and shims fitted. Pumping resumed with no further leaks. The cause was deemed to be the poor condition and length of the dry break. Maui, workboat, 5.4m October 28, Tauranga, near miss/close quarters While conducting an underwater hull inspection of the barge Sea Tow 60 using divers, the engines on the tug Katea were started and activity on both the Sea Tow 60 and the tug began. The divers were immediately radioed and told to abort the dive. They surfaced and swam to the safety of the Maui. Schelde Trader, container ship, 132m October 28, Tauranga Harbour, grounding The ship's main engine stopped due to an auto-stop of an alarm just prior to the grounding, which happened while ship was changing course to starboard. The starboard swing continued despite hard port rudder. The PS anchor was dropped but could not stop the ship in time and she grounded. Arahura, ro-ro passenger ship, 148.4m Gogetem, recreational powerboat, 4.7m October 28, Tauranga, near miss/close quarters The two vessels were involved in a near miss incident. Aratere, passenger/vehicular ferry, 183m October 29, approach to Tory Channel, near miss/close quarters The Aratere was approaching Tory Channel from the sea when a small, unidentified launch was sighted departing the channel entrance. The OOW and lookout observed the vessel would pass clear down the port side and was showing a port sidelight once clear of the entrance. At a very close distance, the small (unidentified) launch began to cross ahead of the Aratere. The OOW put the helm hard to starboard and the Aratere did a round turn to avoid collision. The launch passed clear by a few metres. The Aratere's master was not on the bridge at the time. Lady Bowen, tourist vessel, 21m October 30, Milford Sound, hit submerged object The Lady Bowen struck a submerged object, presumably a log, damaging the port propeller. Brandywine, support vessel, 41m October 30, Motiti Island, gear failure/flooding The crane on the Brandywine was lifting a container on the skiff Mary S. In mid-lift the container fell apart 78 Professional Skipper March/April 2012 and landed in the middle of the Mary S. The structure of the Mary S cracked and broke, causing water to enter and sink her. Aratere, passenger/vehicular ferry, 183m October 31, Tory Channel entrance, equipment failure The ship was exiting Tory Channel and abeam of Scraggy Light at 1906 when power suddenly reduced to one DG. Her speed fell but she had enough steerage to complete the exit from the channel before blacking out completely. The Aratere had enough way to keep moving and power was restored to the port shaft six minutes later. At 1955 a fault meant the alarm sounded in the passenger accommodation so passengers were informed there was no fire. At 2020 the starboard shaft was restarted and she berthed in Wellington without further incident. Matangi, passenger vessel, 7.5m November 4, Awaroa Head, equipment failure The outboard stopped while the Matangi was rounding Awaroa Head, The engine would not restart and the skipper issued a PanPan call. It restarted after another attempt but smoke started coming from a relay box on the switchboard. The smoke stopped once the battery isolator switches were off. The vessel was towed to Kaiteriteri and put on a trailer. A damaged gearbox caused the engine failure and a faulty relay box the burning and smoke. Pacific Pearl, charter vessel, 21.3m November 5, Astrolabe Reef, propulsion failure The Pacific Pearl was closing to the site of the Rena to recover a diving crew surveying the Rena's hull when the main engine suffered a fuel supply failure and shut down due to a foreign object in a day tank isolation valve. The fault was rectified and normal operations resumed about one hour later. Jet Raider, passenger ferry, 37m November 8, Auckland Harbour, propulsion failure The ferry was transiting to Waiheke Island with 312 passengers. The starboard main engine shut down due to crankcase over-pressure. She continued to Waiheke, unloaded the passengers and returned to Auckland empty. Hawk Eye, passenger vessel, 6.75m November 10, Marahau Beach, flooding The Hawk Eye had 12 passengers and four kayaks on board. While approaching the tractor and trailer to land at the low tide mark on Marahau Beach, the water surged out on the approach, leaving the trailer too shallow. The Hawk Eye bottomed out on sand and the next wave surge came over the stern, filling it with water and making it impossible to put on the boat trailer. The passengers and kayaks were unloaded onto the beach and the boat dragged up the beach, drained of water then put onto the trailer. Kaitaki, ro-ro passenger ferry, 177.3m November 12, Wellington Harbour approach, near miss/ close quarters The Kaitaki was inside the harbour limit when a vessel was sighted. The Kaitaki expected the vessel to alter course to starboard as required. No such action occurred so the master sounded five short blasts. The vessel stood on. The ferry had to stand on and slow her turn and ended up 0.3' east of the line of the leads, two miles south of the Barrett Reef buoy. Police warned the master of the vessel concerned for breaching bylaws. Kiwa, tourist vessel, 7.5m November 15, (no location given), extreme vessel movement The boat was in a reasonably sized following sea when it crested an unusually shaped large wave which did not have a "front", only a steep drop. Upon cresting the wave, she fell down the front. Upon reaching the bottom, the bow buried into the wave in front, and the Kiwa broke her windscreen. Mitre Peak, tourist vessel, 18.3m November 17, Milford Sound, equipment failure While approaching Deepwater Basin channel, the main engine lost power and the low-pressure fuel alarm sounded. The crew took the wheel while the skipper checked the engineroom. No obvious faults in the fuel system were observed. The engine was still idling so the skipper attempted to continue to the berth at Deepwater Basin. The engine then failed at the confluence of Arthur River and the anchor was deployed. A tow was requested and completed. Phillip V, fishing vessel, 18.8m November 16, south of East Cape, grounding The Phillip V had two persons on board when she ran aground near Ruatoria, six miles south of East Cape. Awaroa, passenger vessel, 7.3m November 17, Abel Head, Tasman Bay, propulsion failure The skipper noticed a knocking sound coming from the outboard motor. Speed was reduced to idle forward and the skipper proceeded to a sheltered area, anchored and found the sound was coming from the gearbox. The engine was shut down and the Abel Tasman Voyager towed the Awaroa to Kaiteriteri. Into the Blue, tourist vessel, 15m November 17, Akaroa Harbour, propulsion failure The port engine gear select Morse cable snapped while shifting gear and was stuck in neutral. The skipper disengaged the broken cable so the gear could be manually selected. The vessel returned to the wharf on her starboard and port engines using manual select. Janas, fishing vessel, 46.5m November 20, Maitai Wharf, Nelson, near miss/close quarters The vessel was preparing for her next voyage. An engineering contractor on board repairing the freezer inadvertently opened an ammonia line, causing the gas to freely vent into the refrigeration room in the bow. He quickly exited and alerted the ship's crew. Evacuation procedures were implemented. The ship's engineers donned breathing apparatus to shut the leak off. The local fire department was called, but by the time they arrived the leak had been contained and they assisted with the venting process. The chief and second engineer suffered minor affects and were checked over by ambulance staff. The Fire Chief cleared the vessel an hour after the incident began. Clipper I, passenger ferry, 12.3m November 22, upper Waitemata Harbour, equipment failure The ferry was off Chelsea when the starboard engine began to lose revs, make a rumbling noise and vibrate, so the skipper reduced speed to idle. A passenger informed the skipper that smoke was coming from the jet unit near the driveshaft. The skipper closed the hatch, turned the engine off and returned to Westpark on the port engine. Engineers boarded the vessel to repair the fault. Journeyman, trawler, 12m November 23, near Timaru, missing The skipper went fishing on November 22 and failed to return as expected. A search was undertaken and the skipper's body was later located. The vessel has not been found. Waka Kume, tug, 22.35m November 23, Port of Auckland, equipment failure The tug was passing the Bledisloe Container Terminal heading east when both engines failed. Contact was made with the tugs Pacific Way and Mahia and the Waka Kume was assisted back to her berth without further incident. The failure was due to a fuel fault. Dong Won 519, fishing vessel, 55.4m November 24, No. 3 East Wharf, Lyttelton, fire and injury A contracted engineer went to weld a plug over a hole which had been cut in the back of a narrow side tank to apply epoxy foam insulation between the tank and the ship's side. When he began welding a vapour fire gave him substantial burns to his hand. The tank had been gas-freed earlier, but it is believed fumes from the insulation had accumulated in the tank via the hole. K-Jet 7, tourist jetboat, 7.5m November 24, (no location), equipment failure The boat had completed a Hamilton spin at 1445 and was powering up when an alarm from the starboard engine sounded. The skipper brought the engines back to idle and radioed the mechanic. The passengers were transferred to a replacement boat and continued on the trip. The cause was low oil pressure and the boat was run with no problems. K-Jet 7, tourist jetboat, 7.5m November 24, (no location), equipment failure The starboard engine alarm sounded at 1800 while on a trip. The operations base was radioed and another boat dispatched to collect passengers and continue the trip.