Third Death on Sagittarius

An Australian investigator has discovered there has been another death on board the massive coal carrier Sage Sagittarius, the third in the past six weeks.

In late August a crew member disappeared while the ship was sailing in international waters through the Timor Sea, 450 nautical miles north-east of Cairns.

The ship was ordered to dock at Port Kembla where an investigation was opened.

Days later, just before the ship arrived in Newcastle, another man died after falling down stairs.

New South Wales Police are still investigating that incident, and the latest death happened on October 6 while the ship was unloading in Japan.

An employee of the ship’s managing company, Hachiuma Steamship, was killed after being crushed in a conveyer belt.

It is believed the Japanese employee boarded the Sage Sagittarius in Newcastle before it set sail to Japan to oversee crew safety.

Dean Summers, from the International Transport Federation, says the latest death is highly suspicious as there was no mention of it for weeks.

Mr Summers says the incident was only discovered after an inspector in Australia found a note in the ship’s log.

“A superintendent was put on there apparently to care for the welfare and safety of the crew. This is the superintendent that met his death just recently on October 6,” he said.

“Today is October 29; if it was a workplace accident, I would have thought any capable authority would have been able to determine that’s the case [by now].

“To our knowledge that hasn’t happened and the case is still under investigation, and given the past two incidents, suspicious incidents, we cannot draw a conclusion either way.”

Click here to continue reading.

Article written by Will Ockenden, courtesy of ABC News.

Image courtesy of shipspotting.com.