Inquiries & Recommendations

Ngā ketuketutanga me ngā tūtohunga

[A preliminary investigation showed that the circumstances were not likely to have significant implications for transport safety. Consistent with section 13 of the TAIC Act the Commission discontinued the investigation and no report was published.]

On Friday 9 March 2001, at about 0725, the tug "Nautilus III" was towing the laden hopper barge H7 in Auckland Harbour when the barge took a sheer to starboard. The tug skipper manoeuvred the tug in an attempt to arrest the sheer but the tug was girted, capsized, and sank. The skipper of the tug swam clear and was not injured. The main factors contributing to the accident were the short length of the towline in use, the set-up of the towline and the compromise of the watertight integrity of the tug. Safety issues identified included:

On 8 July 1993 a shunting locomotive collided with a pedestrian who was walking along the tracks. No specific safety issues have been identified from the circumstances of this accident.

On Thursday 3 February 2005, at about 0714, Train 829, a Christchurch to Greymouth express freight service, entered the limits of an authorised track occupation area at Phoenix Meat Company siding, Kokiri. The locomotive engineer became aware of the occupation only when he approached the siding to perform a scheduled shunt. One of the track maintenance personnel working at the site within the authorised area was alerted to the proximity of Train 829 when he contacted train control to seek an extension to the occupation. There were no injuries or equipment damage.

On 24 August 2012, the passenger fishing charter vessel Torea was taking a group of passengers on a fishing charter in the Foveaux Strait area. There were 24 passengers and 3 crew members on board. The Torea was only permitted to carry 20 passengers. The skipper was unaware that he had more than 20 passengers on board. While fishing for cod close to Seal Rocks in the area off Ruapuke Island, the Torea struck an uncharted rock as the skipper was increasing speed to move to another area.

[No TAIC report published. As this was an incident involving a NZ-registered aircraft over the territory of an overseas State, TAIC provided an accredited representative under ICAO Annex 13 and assisted with some local information. For a full report on the incident, refer to Australian Transportation Safety Bureau report 200205780 "In-flight uncontained engine failure and air turn-back, Boeing 767-219ER, ZK-NBC".]

On 24 July 2023, the fully loaded Achilles Bulker was departing the Port of Tauranga under pilotage when it began unexpectedly swinging to port after clearing the harbour entrance. As the bridge team attempted to correct the course, the ship’s rudder detached, causing it to drift out of the channel into shallow water. The pilots and crew managed to bring the vessel to a stop using both anchors, narrowly avoiding grounding.

The pilot was to fly the helicopter between two homesteads on a large property. Some two hours after his departure signals from an emergency location transmitter were received and the wreckage of the aircraft was located two hours later. The pilot lost his life in the accident. No cause was established for the accident.

[Investigation incorporated in report 04-123. Please refer to that report.]

[A preliminary investigation showed that the circumstances were not likely to have significant implications for transport safety. Consistent with section 13 of the TAIC Act the Commission discontinued the investigation and no report was published.]

At approximately 1100 on Thursday, 27 April 2000, the Lyttelton shunt was operating in Woolston yard when wagon LPA 5218 loaded with scrap metal derailed due to the track condition. The wagon overturned and fell on the rail operator who had been riding on the shunt. His injuries were fatal. The safety issues identified included actioning of identified track gauge exceedances and the factors which contributed to the wagon overturning. Two safety recommendations were made to Tranz Rail Limited, to address these issues.

[A preliminary investigation showed that the circumstances were not likely to have significant implications for transport safety. Consistent with section 13 of the TAIC Act the Commission discontinued the investigation and no report was published.]