Inquiries & Recommendations

Ngā ketuketutanga me ngā tūtohunga

On Wednesday, 24 February 1999 at about 0640, the passenger and freight ferry "Aratere", with 221 passengers and 33 crew on board, was proceeding past Point Halswell in Wellington Harbour at the beginning of a scheduled service to Picton, when the vessel suffered a series of power failures that eventually left it adrift without power. The emergency generator that was designed to supply power to essential services also failed.

At about 2135 on Friday, 12 February 1999, the bulk woodchip carrier "Prince of Tokyo" was outward bound with 20 crew and a harbour pilot on board when it grounded on the western mole at the entrance to Port Otago harbour. The grounding occurred when the bridge team became distracted and were not monitoring the progress of the vessel. Initial attempts to re-float the vessel were unsuccessful. It was eventually re-floated with the assistance of 3 tugs on Sunday, 14 February 1999. There were no injuries, but the vessel suffered extensive underwater damage.

At about 0100 on Monday, 28 December 1998, the container vessel "Gao Cheng" was entering the Port of Nelson with a pilot on board and two tugs in attendance. As the vessel was approaching the entrance to the harbour the pilot reportedly suffered a sudden loss of vision in his right eye.

On Tuesday, 15 December 1998, at about 1510, the Ukraine registered fishing vessel "Meridian 1" was steaming off Bluff when it grounded on Anchor Ridge close outside Bluff Harbour entrance. The grounding happened when the watchkeeping officer was distracted and failed to adequately monitor the progress of the vessel. After the grounding a Southport (NZ) Limited pilot boarded "Meridian 1" and with the assistance of the 2 harbour tugs, Meridian 1 was refloated and towed into Bluff to assess the damage. No one was injured due to the grounding but "Meridian 1" suffered minor damage.

[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 Tuesday, 8 December 1998, at about 1635, the Tauranga Volunteer Coastguard rigid inflatable vessel "Rescue 1" was responding to a Mayday call from a vessel near Motiti Island when it suffered a failure of the outer covers that secured the buoyancy bladders to the hull. The two starboard bladders separated from the hull and the port forward bladder deflated. The vessel continued to Motiti Island and attended the rescue before returning to Tauranga. There were no injuries. Safety issues identified included:

At about 2125 hours on Friday 4 December 1998, a loss of separation occurred between an Air New Zealand Boeing 767 and a Sunair Piper Aztec near Auckland Airport. Both aircraft were under radar control at the time of the incident. The Boeing 767, on departure from Auckland, was intercepting the Auckland - Rarotonga track and climbing to flight level 250. The Piper Aztec was en route from Hamilton to Whangarei via Auckland, maintaining 7000 feet. The pilot of the Piper Aztec saw the Boeing 767 closing from the left and descended to ensure separation.

[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 Tuesday, 17 November 1998, at approximately 1040 hours Train 700, the northbound Coastal Pacific passenger express, was travelling through Hapuku when dragging brake gear on a high speed goods wagon at the head of the train struck and damaged the main line turnouts. The train continued for a further 26 km before the locomotive engineer noted track ballast being thrown up by the dragging brake gear and stopped the train.

At about 1610 on Friday, 2 October 1998, the jet boat "Terminator" was proceeding at a speed of about 65 km/h down one of many secondary channels on a braided section of the Dart River, when the driver was confronted with an obstacle partially blocking a left hand turn in the channel. As the driver attempted to make the turn around the obstruction, his boat struck it, the driver lost control and the boat skidded sideways into a shingle bank and flipped, trapping some of the passengers beneath the boat. The 11 passengers plus the driver suffered minor to serious injuries.

[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 Wednesday 21 October 1998, at approximately 0840 hours, Train 700, the northbound Coastal Pacific express passenger, collided with No. 2 shunt standing in the loop at Rangiora. Train 700 was unintentionally routed onto the loop as it approached Rangiora on the main line. A passenger and crew member sustained minor injuries in the collision.