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Story: Shipping

Maritime Friendship crane collapse

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<em>Maritime Friendship</em> crane collapse

An increasing amount of New Zealand’s trade is carried by ‘flag of convenience’ ships – registered in Panama, Liberia and other third world countries – and crewed by people from low-wage nations. They commonly carry bulk cargo, and are not always well maintained. Wharfies at Dunedin’s Port Chalmers dived for cover in November 2003 when a crane aboard the Hong Kong-registered bulker Maritime Friendship collapsed while loading logs at Beach Street Wharf. It was the second incident reported on this rust bucket that week.

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Otago Daily Times

Reference: 1 December 2005, p. 1

Permission of the Otago Daily Times must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Gavin McLean, Shipping – The container revolution, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/5903/maritime-friendship-crane-collapse (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Gavin McLean, published 2 March 2009, updated 1 January 2016.