The owner of an engineering company has been fined $48,000 after molten material from his workers’ gas-cutting equipment started a fire in the hold of a ship.

Kerry Tong, of Napier, the sole director of KR Tong Engineering, has also been ordered to pay $4000 in emotional harm reparation to a man considered a victim in the case, identified in court as one of his staff.

Tong appeared in the Napier District Court last month charged with exposing an individual to a risk of harm, laid under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015.

The charge was laid by Maritime New Zealand following the blaze in the hold of the Kota Bahagia during the unloading of wind turbine components at the Port of Napier in December 2020.

At the height of the blaze, residents on nearby Bluff Hill were warned to keep doors and windows closed because of potentially toxic fumes, and it took firefighters six days to finally extinguish the fire.

A Transport Accident Investigation Commission inquiry found that molten material ejected by gas-cutting activities on the ship very probably ignited dry sawdust or wood shavings in the hold, creating a fire which spread to other flammable materials.

Tong’s employees were using gas-cutters to remove metal braces which had kept the cargo in place during the ship’s voyage from China, where the wind turbine components had been loaded.

No-one was physically injured and Tong was not on board the vessel when the fire broke out.

However, Martime NZ’s manager of regulatory operations, John Maxwell, said Tong failed to ensure appropriate resources and processes were in place to minimise the fire risk.

As director of the company, he needed to ensure his people worked in a way to keep themselves and those in the vicinity safe, Maxwell said.

“He needed to ensure his company acquired and kept up to date with the standards and guidance required relating to safety procedures with hot works,” Maxwell said.

“He didn’t do so.”

He said Tong should have completed thorough safety checks, and full site and risk assessments. He should have placed a fire-watcher on board, and made sure fire blankets were available and used effectively.

“Undertaking these steps would have reduced the potential of the fire starting and spreading,” Maxwell said.

“Due to the fire occurring in a confined space on the vessel, it posed a significant risk to the safety of the employees of Mr Tong, the stevedores, the crew, and all others in the vicinity.”

In addition to the fine and emotional harm payment, Judge Gordon Matenga ordered Tong to pay $2500 in court costs, bringing his total penalty to $54,500.

- Ric Stevens, Open Justice