A gantry crane manufacturer has revised maintenance guidance after an accident during maintenance on a bulk carrier off Gove, in the Northern Territory’s Arnhem Land, an ATSB investigation final report details.
On 23 June 2025, two crew members of the RTM Weipa were conducting planned engine maintenance while the ship was anchored off the Port of Gove, in north-eastern NT.
The pair 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.
One of the crew members received a glancing blow from the falling motor, sustaining minor injuries.
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 has revised its engine room crane maintenance procedures, across RTM Weipa and its three sister ships, in accordance with Sekigahara Seisakusho’s updated guidance.
“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.
The ship’s manager 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.
Read the final report: Crew injury in the engine room of RTM Weipa, 8 km from Gove, Northern Territory, on 23 June 2025