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Work accident off Port of Gove investigated
The Australia Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has investigated an accident on the 'RTM Weipa' on June 23, 2025. Two crew members were conducting planned engine maintenance, while the ship was anchored off the Port of Gove. They were using the engine room’s overhead gantry crane to handle various components. After a lifting task had been completed and the crane was stationary, its traversing motor, weighing about 25 kilograms, detached from its overhead mounting and fell about six metres into the engine room work site. One of the crew members received a glancing blow and suffered minor injuries. The ATSB investigation determined the motor had detached due to the loosening over time of internal bolts. The bolts attaching the motor to the gearbox were not externally visible, and were only accessible by taking the assembly apart. The manufacturer’s maintenance procedure did not identify the internal bolts, nor did it provide instructions on checking their integrity during routine preventive maintenance. The crane’s manufacturer, Sekigahara Seisakusho, has subsequently revised its maintenance procedures to ensure the internal bolts can be adequately checked during routine inspections. It has also recommended a five-yearly inspection by a manufacturer-certified technician. Separately, the probe found none of ASP Ship Management’s four ships was fitted with a suitable access platform for crews to safely undertake preventive maintenance on the engine room gantry cranes. Crews reported using improvised and unsafe work platforms as a result. The ATSB also found that the ship’s crew had identified the motor to be wobbling about four months prior to the incident, but this was not properly investigated or reported. Corrective action had not been taken to address the defect and personnel responsible for technical oversight of the crane were not aware of this anomaly. The ASP has subsequently reinforced its reporting procedures, and has also installed fixed platforms, fitted with safety chains, to enable close-up inspection of the cranes’ overhead components across its fleet. Formal working at height controls, including permits, risk assessments, safety checks and fall protection measures, have been incorporated into maintenance procedures and reinforced through crew training. The ASP has also implemented fleet-wide training and procedures to ensure defects are correctly recorded.
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