The Australian Transport Safety Bureau released its final investigation report regarding the sudden loss of propulsion on a fully loaded bulk carrier departing Port Hedland in Western Australia.
Under the direction of two harbour pilots, the 327-metre Singapore-registered bulk carrier FMG Nicola, departed its berth on February 7, 2025 with assisting tugs. At 15:15, approximately five miles (eight kilometres) into the pilotage, the main engine unexpectedly shut down.
As the vessel's speed dropped from 8.3 knots (15.4 km/h) to 4.8 knots (8.9 km/h), the harbour pilots declared an emergency and used the assisting tugs to navigate the channel. Meanwhile, the ship's engineers identified a faulty lubricating oil pressure switch as the cause of the shutdown and successfully restarted the engine at 15:23.
Although the vessel drifted along the edge of the charted channel in choppy conditions, four additional tugs arrived by 15:44 to help guide the bulk carrier clear of the channel side.
Under the escort of seven tugs, FMG Nicola was safely guided to open sea by 16:48 without sustaining any structural damage or water ingress.
The ATSB found that the propulsion loss occurred because the main engine's low lubricating oil pressure emergency shutdown switch activated erroneously while all actual system parameters were normal.
The investigation also confirmed that the emergency response of the harbour pilots and the port authority aligned with established guidelines and prevented the vessel from contacting the seabed.
Following the incident, the Pilbara Ports Authority updated its pilotage and emergency response procedures, while the ship's operator, FMG International, reduced the replacement interval for lubricating oil pressure switches to two and a half years across its fleet.
Additionally, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority revised its reporting procedures to ensure that all future pilotage incidents are promptly shared with the safety bureau.
