Lica-Maersk

The "Lica Maersk", en route from Hamburg to Cartehena with a crew of 25 on board suffered a leaking fuel valve 36 miles from Lizard Point in position 49 25 24N, 005 17 00W, on Aug 3, 2019, at 6.30 a.m. The vessel stopped, the crew carried out repairs and the ship resumed the voyage at 07.50 a.m.

The Ports of Auckland Ltd (POAL) has been fined $55,000 and ordered to pay $25,000 in reparation to a stevedore who suffered serious injuries unloading the "Lica Maersk" at the port in January 2014. POAL admitted a charge laid by Maritime New Zealand under the Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992 of failing to take all practicable steps to ensure the safety of employee, and was sentenced in Auckland District Court on Mar 20, 2015. The stevedore was injured while attempting to dislodge a twist-lock that was stuck in the top of a two-high container stack on board the ship. The man was using a 5-meter unlocking pole which, with the weight of the twist lock, pulled him from the top of a container 15m down to the water. During his fall, he hit a crane beam, and then the wharf, before landing in the water where he spent approximately 15 minutes due to difficulties in rescuing him from the narrow space. The man suffered multiple injuries including breaking both legs, three fractured vertebrae, 10 fractured ribs, fractures to his sternum, a lacerated lung, and two fractured tendons in his left hand. The man was hospitalised for three months after the accident and was unlikely to return to work as a stevedore. The investigation by Maritime NZ found that no safety rail was in place in the area the man was working because it was covered by container lashing equipment. The POAL management had identified that use of unlocking poles to remove twist-locks was hazardous in mid-2013 but stevedores were not told they should not be used. The company failed to provide adequate training in relation to ship inspections and health and safety procedures and failed to adequately monitor employees to identify and prevent unsafe work practices.