All mariners urged to keep a lookout after a collision between container ship and yacht off south-east Queensland.
In the early morning hours of 6 July 2014 in Moreton Bay the container ship Kota Wajar collided with the yacht Blazing Keel. The yacht suffered extensive damage but remained afloat and the yacht safely returned to its marina.
The ATSB found that no one on board either Kota Wajar or Blazing Keel saw the other vessel before the collision. Neither vessel had maintained a proper lookout.
ATSB General Manager of Surface Safety Investigations , Nev Blyth said, ‘This accident was very similar to the 2009 collision between the yacht Ella's Pink Lady and bulk carrier Silver Yang off Point Lookout, Queensland.
‘Back then the ATSB noted there were significant lessons to be learned from this incident and I’m concerned that the message is not getting through’, he said.
Because of the continuing safety issue around maintaining an effective lookout when navigating in Australian waters, the ATSB has issued a safety advisory notice which reinforces the importance of taking all necessary measures to ensure that a proper lookout is kept at all times.
Across the past 26 years, investigations into 41 collisions between trading ships and small vessels on the Australian coast have identified that maintaining a proper lookout is paramount to preventing collisions.
Read the report: Collision between Kota Wajar and the yacht Blazing Keel, Moreton Bay, Queensland, on 6 July 2014