A cargo ship's loss of 50 containers overboard in an incident that prompted a massive east coast clean-up operation occurred due to years of poor maintenance, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau says.
The cargo toppled off the APL England when the vessel hit rough seas travelling to Melbourne from China in May 2020, about 75km off the Sydney coast.
Containers and debris later washed up on NSW beaches, forcing a huge clean-up.
An ATSB probe into the incident, released Friday, found the ship's container securing arrangements were in a "poor state of repair and the strength of many securing fixtures was severely reduced by corrosion".
"Our investigators found this condition would have taken several years of poor maintenance to develop," ATSB chief commissioner Angus Mitchell said in a statement.
"This showed the ship had not received the scrutiny from crew members, shore management, or other agencies that a ship of its age or condition required."
Adverse weather protocols were also not followed, the ATSB probe also found.
"Had these procedures and associated assessment tools been used, navigational and operational decisions could have been made, which would have better prepared the ship for the conditions encountered," Mr Mitchell said.
Since the incident, vessel fixtures were repaired, and deck and container fittings on all other vessels in the APL fleet were brought up to standard, the ATSB said.
The company also implemented extra safety action regarding planning and navigation in heavy weather, the federal agency said.
