LYTTELTON Port Company has been sentenced today (31 July) in the Christchurch District Court on a charge associated with the 2022 death of a stevedore.

The LPC was charged under section 48 of the New Zealand’s Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 for the incident, in which an LPC stevedore was killed onboard a vessel on 25 April 2022.

The charge was filed by Maritime NZ, the regulatory and safety authority for the maritime industry in New Zealand. A local media report suggests LPC was fined NZ$480,000, with the port also ordered to pay NZ$35,000 in costs to Maritime NZ.

Don Grant was working as a hatchman at the time of the accident, stationed on the deck of Liberian-flagged bulk carrier ETG AQUARIUS while it was being loaded.

In the role, Mr Grant was giving directions via radio to the operator of the ship-loader as to where the flow of coal should go into the hold of the ship. Maritime NZ said Mr Grant was following LPC’s procedures, and was standing in the position he was trained to.

Mr Grant was struck and killed when coal was being moved from the port via a conveyor belt and loaded onto the ship by a jet-slinger. He was 71 years old.

LPC accepted responsibility for the accident, saying it “deeply regrets what happened”.

“We have made a number of changes to the coal loading procedures to ensure that no other worker is exposed to the risk of harm from the activities,” LPC said in a statement.

Maritime NZ director Kirstie Hewlett said, “It is good Lyttelton Port Company took responsibility and pleaded guilty”

“Our investigation found several safety failings by LPC in the management of risks for workers involved in the loading of coal,” she said.

“Included in the range of issues identified by the investigation was the hatchmen being located within the potential firing line of the jet-slinger. This meant if it was re-positioned, or moved without their knowledge, they’d be at risk of being struck by the coal.”

Since the incident, LPC has made changes to reduce the risk of hatchmen being struck by coal including hatchmen standing in a designated safe zone, rules around when the coal can be poured to keep workers safe, and increasing CCTV overview.

The accident occurred less than a week after a stevedore was killed at an incident at the Port of Auckland.