News

The Chief of Navy Rear Admiral Garin Golding has received the interim Court of Inquiry report into the sinking of the HMNZS 'Manawanui' and said the court had made good progress with its investigations, and was on track with interviews and evidence gathering. The interim report was directed to focus on what happened, while the final report will have the fuller context of why the incident occurred and lessons to be learnt, and also undergo an independent King’s Counsel legal review, and following that, we will look to release to the public later this month some of the key information about what happened. Relevant information would be made public as soon as practical. It was anticipated that the final report will be completed around the end of Feb 2025. The report will then be subject to an independent legal review and information is expected to be released publicly by late March. These dates are approximate and are subject to change.

A lawsuit over the allision of the 'YM Truth' with a crane in Vancouver has drawn in four liner operators, a Chinese ship lessor, a Canadian terminal company and shipowner Costamare about who should pay for the loss of pork and beef products that went bad after the accident. The legal fight has been waging in the city’s Federal Court since Jan 2024, when Tokyo meat distributor Starzen and Japan Food Corp sued companies linked to the vessel and estimated losses of more than $1.99m. The companies had purchased chilled pork and beef from Canada that was to be shipped to Japan in Dec 2022. Before the vessel could leave the Vancouver port’s GCT Deltaport terminal, a gantry loading crane made contact with the vessel. The ship was damaged, unseaworthy and unable to leave the port of Vancouver on schedule and was delayed approximately three weeks in its voyage. The delay caused damage to the meat cargo that was discovered upon arrival at Japan’s port of Kobe, the lawyers alleged. In addition to targeting the Taiwanese container carrier Yang Ming Marine Transport. and a unit of Costamare, the two food companies sued the registered owner, a unit of Bank of Communications Financial Leasing. The Chinese bank, also known as Bocom Leasing, is the lease financier of the ship. The solicitors for Starzen and Japan Food Corp also went after three different arms of GCT Global Container Terminals. The food companies’ lawyers have alleged negligence by all the defendants, claiming that Starzen and Japan Food Corp instructed the vessel interests to adjust the temperature of the containers after the incident, but that was not carried out. They blamed the terminal’s maintenance and operation of the crane, and they alleged breaches in the care and control of the ship and the containers containing the chilled meat. Lawyers for GCT denied negligence claims because only some of the containers of meat products had been loaded on the ship at the time of the incident. The solicitors, Gregory Tucker and George Roper of Owen Bird Law, alleged in court papers that the real negligence was not to unload those containers and to load the remainder after the casualty. Yang Ming had denied any problem with the 'YM Truth' and rejected the claim that it failed to properly care for the meat. The Starzen and Japan Food Corp filed an amended statement of claim adding GCT to a lawsuit over the incident. The initial claim was filed in January. A lawyer who was representing both Costamare and Bocom Leasing entities, also denied the claims, stating that the ship was seaworthy in all aspects and fit for its intended purpose to carry the subject cargo of chilled pork and beef. He denied that the companies breached any legal duty of care or obligation” to the cargo. The lawsuit has led to a series of third-party claims. GCT filed a claim against the vessel interests, which have in turn filed claims against the terminal operator. GCT has also filed a claim against HMM of South Korea, the Japanese-controlled Ocean Network Express and Hapag-Lloyd as Yang Ming’s liner operator partners in the THE Alliance. HMM’s solicitor denied that GCT was entitled to any relief, contribution or indemnity sought from HMM, either as alleged or at all.

On Nov 14, 2024, at around 3.30 p.m. the 'Tin Ujević', which sails on the route Supetar - Split, had problems with the hydraulic hose of the loading ramp. Therefore, passengers and vehicles had to leave the ferry in the port of Split via another ramp. In 2024, there were several malfunctions on ferry ramps on Jadrolinija ferries. Due to the collapse of the ramp on the 'Lastovo' in August, when three Jadrolinija sailors died, the investigation is still ongoing. In the middle of August, the 'Tin Ujević' also faced problems. At that time, the passengers who were supposed to travel from Split, had to be transported by a smaller vessel.

An investigation has found the grounding of the 'Manahau' on Carters Beach in August could have been avoided. The company has completed its independent investigation into the incident, led by Tim Burfoot, a former chief investigator for the Transport Accident Investigation Commission. The investigation found that it was fit for purpose, equipped with the necessary capabilities and properly supported by the company's shore-based management team. While the weather and sea conditions had been forecast accurately and sufficient information was available to make informed navigational decisions, the grounding was ultimately avoidable. The findings indicated that better decision-making by the crew at several key points during the incident could have prevented the vessel from running aground. Most of the 11 shipping staff from had now returned home and the 'Manahau' remained docked at Port Nelson. Both the Maritime Union and Merchant Service Guild had voiced concerns about the welfare of the Indonesian/Burmese crew aboard the ship. A repair plan has been submitted to RINA, the international certification body, and the necessary work will take approximately one month once the vessel is in dry dock. Replacement propeller drives will take several months to procure. The WMS Group was deeply disappointed that a preventable event had delayed its plans to export mineral sand direct from the West Coast and it was working to return the 'Manahau' into service. The investigations by Maritime NZ and the Transport Accident Investigation Commission were ongoing.

A Norwegian fishing boat was involved in an incident with the USS 'Virginia' on Nov 11, 2024. The 32-foot fishing boat was on its way back to harbour in the northerly region of Troms, when it discovered that a submarine had got tangled in its nets. The fishermen had just emptied the nets and put them out again and were on our way back to port when they received a radio call from the Coastguard, which explained that the submarine had dragged the nets two nautical miles out to sea, where they were eventually cut off. The losses were estimated to be around 40,000 Norwegian Crowns (£2,800). The US embassy in Oslo later confirmed that the USS 'Virginia' got tangled up in the nets after making a scheduled stop at a harbour near Tromsø. The fishing net got sucked into the submarine’s propellers and had to be cut out by an escort vessel provided by the Norwegian Coastguard.