A worker has died at Wellington’s CentrePort this morning, the first death at a major New Zealand commercial port since 2022.
Stevedoring company C3 confirmed one of its employees had died following an incident at its Wellington site this morning, saying said its focus was on the man’s family, colleagues and those who responded.
“This is a tragic event and our priority is supporting the employee’s family, his colleagues and others, including those who attended the scene, during this incredibly difficult time,” it said.
CentrePort chief executive Anthony Delaney said the company’s priority was supporting the worker’s family and colleagues.
“This is a tragic incident, and our thoughts and priority need to be supporting the family of the worker as well as his colleagues and the independent stevedore, along with the CentrePort personnel that were part of the initial response,”
He said CentrePort could not comment on the circumstances while the response continued.
Maritime NZ, the sector’s safety regulator, said it had launched an investigation.
“This is a tragic incident. Our sincere thoughts and condolences are with the family, friends and colleagues of the person involved,” the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson said the investigation would be thorough and no comment could be made on the cause while it continued.
“Any death at work is incredibly sad and we take all incidents very seriously. This death is also particularly difficult given this is the first death at a major commercial port since 2022 and given the significant work done over the past four years by the sector to improve safety and reduce harm,” they said.
The last fatal incident involving operations at a major commercial port was in April 2022 at Lyttelton Port Company, near Christchurch.