New Zealand's maritime authority is investigating how shipping around our coasts can be made safer, as a high-level report into the grounding of the Rena reveals an alarming catalogue of issues.
The Transport Accident Investigation Commission's chief commissioner John Marshall outlines his findings on the Rena grounding. Photo/John Borren
The findings of the Transport Accident Investigation Commission's investigation into the catastrophic grounding of the MV Rena, released yesterday, detailed a list of concerns, including those around crew training and international conventions.
You can read response from Tauranga's most affected below.
The TAIC launched its inquiry shortly after the Liberian-flagged container ship struck the Astrolabe Reef off Tauranga at 2.14am on October 5, 2011.
The grounding resulted in the spill of 350 tonnes of heavy fuel oil and hundreds of containers into the sea, temporarily polluting Bay of Plenty beaches and killing wildlife.
The Liberian-flag ship's master, Captain Mauro Balomaga, and second mate, Leonil Relon - both trained in the Philippines - were sentenced to seven months' jail in 2012, but served half the sentence.
Delivering the findings, TAIC Commissioner John Marshall, QC, said the grounding was not attributable to any equipment malfunction, but rather poor planning and execution.
The passage plan did not meet standards of best practice, and a shortcut that was taken to reach the Port of Tauranga by 3am - which instead led straight to the reef but only would have saved a minute had it not been there - increased the risk and "contributed directly".
There were also failures in the standard of watch-keeping in almost all aspects, the navigating crew were not strictly following company procedures and monitoring equipment also was not used adequately.
A simple chart plotter or plotter integrated with radar came with low cost, and would have alerted the bridge to the reef.
By the time Mr Balomaga took control of the ship, shortly before the impact, he had received virtually no information about the course.
Mr Marshall said fatigue was likely, at least, to have affected performance but there was insufficient evidence to determine if actions attributable to it.
The investigation further found the navigating crew had not been following the safety management system for at least the six coastal voyages prior to the grounding; that deficiencies had been spotted on the Rena at previous ports overseas; and that international protocols for auditing training standards "lacked transparency".
An independent audit had found Philippines' maritime education, training and certification system did not meet mandatory standards enforced by the International Maritime Organisation.
The commission recommended the company which managed the Rena, CIEL Shipmanagement S.A, "evaluate the effectiveness" of its safety management system, and that Maritime New Zealand (MNZ) push, through the IMO, for greater transparency of the system for auditing countries' seafarer training systems.
The commission further recommended that MNZ collect sufficient data on shipping movements around the New Zealand coast, and "monitor and control" the use of virtual aids to navigation around the coast.
A lack of data meant it wasn't possible to make any meaningful analysis to see whether there was any need for ship routing in some form around the coast.
However, MNZ director Keith Manch said ship routing normally occurred in areas where there was a huge amount of traffic, "and there isn't a huge amount of traffic in New Zealand".
MNZ would consider the option in a new review that would give a comprehensive analysis of factors contributing to risks around shipping. It would also consider the virtual aids suggested by TAIC.
Mr Marshall said a light on the reef "probably would have helped" avoid the grounding, but there were a number of such hazards around the country and the costs and advances in technology had to be considered.
A simple chart plotter or plotter integrated with radar came with low cost, and would have alerted the bridge to the reef.
LOCAL RESPONSE
Nevan Lancaster.
Nevan Lancaster, Rena Business Compensation Group spokesman, supported the investigation into the need for designated shipping routes around the coast of New Zealand and virtual navigation aids that could one day lead to crewless ships. "If the crew hadn't been on the ship, the ship probably wouldn't have run aground," he said. Hugo Shanahan, the spokesman for the Rena's owners and insurers, said the ship's manager had dealt with the substance of the report's recommendations relating to it. The owners and managers had also provided input on areas where they did not agree with the commission's approach.
Buddy Mikaere.
Iwi spokesman Buddy Mikaere said: "Recommending more training is fine but what's needed is more teeth in the thing. We have the technology to track an aircraft, surely we can do the same for ships and see where they are and track their progress around our coastlines." Te Runanga o Ngai Te Rangi chair Charlie Tawhio said: "The purpose of the inquiry was to look into the causes of the incident and to make recommendations on how it might have been avoided. It would have been nice if they made some more explicit recommendations."
Mayor Stuart Crosby said it was critical to improve maritime navigational safety. "We don't want another Rena event to happen under any circumstances."
Local MP Simon Bridges said: "I expect Maritime New Zealand to implement the recommendations that have been made which apply to them around ensuring improved transparency on the training of seafarers."
