MO-2001-210

On Saturday 28 July 2001 at about 0512, the coastal container ship "Spirit of Enterprise" was outbound from Onehunga in Manukau Harbour with 11 crew and a harbour pilot on board when it grounded in soft mud on the starboard side of Wairopa Channel. Initial attempts to refloat the ship failed and it was eventually refloated on the rising tide at about 1437 the same day. There were no injuries and the ship suffered no structural damage. Owing to the infrequent demand for pilotage services on Manukau Harbour and the lack of pilot licence currency requirements, the pilot was not sufficiently familiar with the channel to conduct the pilotage in darkness. There was also an absence of effective bridge resource management techniques among the bridge team.

Safety issues identified included:
• there being no legislative requirements for harbour pilots to maintain some form of currency for the areas for which they were licensed to operate
• neither the Auckland Regional Council nor Ports of Auckland Limited having a policy to require some form of pilot currency despite there being no legislative requirement to do so
• the breakdown of effective bridge resource management by the bridge team on the Spirit of Enterprise
• the suitability of the navigational marks in Wairopa Channel for navigation in darkness.