Steering failure involving roll-on roll-off cargo ship Matthew Flinders III, north of Waterhouse Island, Tasmania, on 24 July 2025

Summary

The ATSB is investigating an incident involving a loss of steering on board the roll-on/roll-off cargo ship Matthew Flinders III while en route to Lady Barron on Flinders Island, Tasmania, on 24 July 2025.

At approximately 0022 local time, the ship experienced a steering failure, with the rudder locked hard to port about 8 km north of Waterhouse Island. The crew manually realigned the rudder to midship to regain basic steering using differential engine power and attempted to return to Bridport anchorage. While slowly making way back to Bridport the ship's crew managed to identify and correct the steering failure and at 0845 steering was reinstated. The ship then continued to its passage to Lady Barron where it arrived around 1500.

The draft report internal review process has been completed. The draft report has been distributed to directly involved parties (DIPs) to check factual accuracy and ensure natural justice. Any submissions from those parties will be reviewed and, where considered appropriate, the draft report will be amended accordingly.

Following the external review process, any submissions and amendments to the draft report are internally reviewed. Once approved, the final report is prepared for publication and dissemination and released to DIPs prior to its public release.

Should a critical safety issue be identified during the course of the investigation, the ATSB will immediately notify relevant parties so that appropriate safety action can be taken. The final report will be released at the conclusion of the investigation.