A CREW MEMBER of Rio Tinto Shipping’s Weipa-Gladstone bulker RTM Weipa was lucky to escape with minor injuries after being struck a glancing blow by part of an engine-room gantry that fell from height when internal bolts failed.
The Australian Transport Investigation Bureau has released its final report into the incident, which happened on 23 June 2025 while the Singapore-flagged vessel was undergoing planned engine-room maintenance when anchored off Gove in the Northern Territory.
Two crew members were using the engine-room’s overhead gantry crane as designed, to handle various components. After a lifting task had been completed and the crane was stationary, its traversing motor, weighing about 25 kg, detached from its overhead mounting, and fell about 6 metres into the engine room work site.
An 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,” ATSB director of transport safety Graham Drummond said.
“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.
The ship’s manager [ASP Ship Management] has revised its engine room crane maintenance procedures, across the 90,338 DWT, 2008-built RTM Weipa and its three sister ships, in accordance with Sekigahara Seisakusho’s updated guidance, The Bureau said.
“This incident, and the safety actions taken, demonstrate the importance of clear, relevant and effective guidance for workers conducting inspections and maintenance,” Mr Drummond said.
Separately, the ATSB’s investigation found none of the manager’s four ships were 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. Consequently, 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.
ASP Ship Management 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 fleetwide.
“Ship crews and managers are reminded of the importance of implementing effective risk controls and recognising the hazards that can arise when deviations from safe work practices become normalised,” Mr Drummond concluded.