Grounding of domestic commercial vessel, The Big Duck, Granite Island, Victor Harbour, South Australia, on 15 August 2017

On 22 August 2017, the ATSB commenced a marine investigation into the grounding occurrence of a domestic commercial vessel (The Big Duck) in South Australia.

The initial notification indicated that the vessel broke its moorings while moored at Granite Island and drifted onto rocks in Victor Harbour. 

During the course of the investigation it was identified that, during the early hours of 15 August 2017, the unoccupied vessel broke its moorings as a weather front passed through the area. The ATSB has concluded that further investigation of this occurrence would yield minimal benefits to the enhancement of transport safety.

Therefore, the ATSB has discontinued the investigation in line with the provisions of the Transport Safety Investigation Act 2003 (TSI Act).

Section 21 (2) of the TSI Act empowers the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) to discontinue an investigation into a transport safety matter at any time. Section 21 (3) of the TSI Act requires the ATSB to publish a statement setting out the reasons for discontinuing an investigation.