Executive summary
On Friday 1 March 2002 at about 1130, while assisting a tanker to depart from the Lyttelton oil wharf, the master of the harbour tug "Purau" lost control and the tug’s stern grounded, causing damage to the starboard propeller and drive shaft.
The safety issues identified included:
• poor ergonomics of the propulsion controls on the 2 port company tugs
• incomplete training of staff
• imbalance of the calibration of the propulsion units
• unauthorised persons on board the tug
Safety recommendations were made to Lyttelton Port Company to address the safety issues.
Related Recommendations
Introduce a documented system of regular peer reviews to ensure the standard of tug handling remains consistent.
Issue a memorandum to the tug masters, to remind them of the requirements of the Safe Ship Management Certificate, particularly the carriage of additional persons.
Include in the tugs’ planned maintenance system, a regular check to ensure that the speed controls remain synchronised. A service history of any adjustments or modifications to the engines and control systems should be recorded.
Include in the Safe Ship Management Manual, instructions to masters on the action they should take in the event of an operational emergency. Areas of risk should be identified.
Improve the training programme for tug masters. It addition to the material the programme already contains, it should include: · a more comprehensive training manual · more prescriptive descriptions of the tasks that a tug master must be able to accomplish competently, including emergency and non standard situations · how that competence shall be assessed · information on the handling characteristics of each of the Port Company tugs · general information regarding the safe operation of a tug · an in-depth description of risks that may be encountered during a towage operation.