On the afternoon of 2 December 2007, the Australian registered
bulk carrier Endeavour River grounded in Gladstone harbour
while attempting a mid-tide berthing at the South Trees Wharf.
The master was attempting to berth the ship on a flood tide,
with a following wind, and was unable to position the ship
correctly for its approach to the berth. Even with the use of two
attending tugs, he was unable to counteract the tidal influence.
Throughout the berthing manoeuvre, only the master, the chief mate
and the deck cadet were on the bridge.
The ship grounded in the vicinity of A1 beacon at the entrance
to the Auckland Channel, destroying the beacon in the process.
Despite the assistance of all five of the port's tugs, the ship
could not be refloated at that time.
On 7 December, Endeavour River was successfully
refloated on the morning high tide and manoeuvred with the aid of
tugs to South Trees Wharf.
The investigation found that bridge resource management
principles were not practiced by the bridge team and that no
monitoring of the passage took place during the time leading up to
the grounding. In addition, the bridge team lost situational
awareness prior to the grounding. They became fixated on trying to
berth the ship and were not responsive to other cues which would
have alerted them that the ship was being set down into an area of
shallow water.
The report identifies a number of safety issues and acknowledges
safety actions which have been taken by ASP Ship Management and
Maritime Safety Queensland to address those issues.
