Asbestos on older vessels is also a known risk. Although it was phased out in New Zealand in the 1990s and banned internationally in ship construction in 2011, it was widely used as insulation in various components of engines and construction.
It was also used in glues, sealants, electrical cables and in mooring ropes.
Sealord did not believe there was any risk to the Will Watch crew from asbestos, believing it had been removed from the vessel before it arrived in New Zealand in the 1980s.
The alarm raised by the crew member triggered testing, which found asbestos in areas of the Will Watch but not in the areas first thought.
Sealord was then charged that on or before June 20, 2021, it failed to comply with a duty to protect the health and safety of workers on the vessel by exposing them to the risk of harm from asbestos fibres.
The company admitted the charge in the Nelson District Court this week, with amended particulars including it was reasonably practicable for the Sealord Group to have carried out adequate asbestos risk assessment to identify risks or hazards to workers arising from exposure to asbestos fibres.
It was also practicable for the company to have adequately consulted with Sealord-owned United Frame International (Cook Islands) Limited about the risk of exposure to asbestos fibres on the Will Watch before seconding its workers to the vessel.
Sealord owned the Cook Islands-flagged vessel between 1986 and 1997 before it was acquired by UFI.
The Will Watch was based in Mauritius and fished in the southern Indian Ocean. Sealord sometimes seconded its workers to the vessel to fill crew shortages and provide training and monitor health and safety on board.
When the worker raised the flag over what he had found, he was told the ship had been checked and cleared in 1994.
When the vessel arrived in Mauritius he and another removed the material from around the engine exhaust system.
The worker then wrote to Nelson MP Rachel Boyack, outlining his concerns.
Boyack referred the letter to the Minister of Transport who referred it to Maritime New Zealand in September 2021.
Boyack told NZME she raised the matter with the Minister to seek an exemption for the constituent to bypass the Covid-related MIQ ballot in place at the time, as she was concerned for his health and sought to support him to return to New Zealand immediately.
In December 2021 Maritime NZ advised Sealord of its concerns about asbestos on the Will Watch and that an assessment was needed once the ship returned to Nelson.
Sealord’s health and safety manager said that while Sealord did not believe asbestos posed a risk to people on the vessel they were “happy to check this formally”.
In December 2021 the Will Watch arrived in Nelson with about 38 foreign crew and five New Zealand crew.
Four out of 22 samples taken from around the ship test positive for asbestos.
On January 13 last year, Sealord ceased work on the ship and offloaded all crew. MNZ issued a prohibition notice to the contractor servicing the vessel.
Further testing found more traces of asbestos but air monitoring samples did not exceed minimum trace levels.
A painting company contracted to remove the asbestos requested further testing around the ship’s exhaust area, and three out of four samples came back positive.
In March last year, the ship received asbestos clearance certificates and returned to sea.
NZME has approached Sealord for comment but it declined while the matter was still before the court.
The company is to be sentenced in December.
Tracy Neal is a Nelson-based Open Justice reporter at NZME. She was previously RNZ’s regional reporter in Nelson-Marlborough and has covered general news, including court and local government for the Nelson Mail.
