Complacency killed tugboat hero: report Tugboat skippers Doug Hislop and Peter Fenton risked their lives to prevent a potential catastrophe on the raging Brisbane River during the flood crisis. Photo: Naz Mulla Complacency led to the death of Brisbane's tugboat flood hero, an investigation by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau has found. Tugboat engineer Peter Fenton, 67, was killed when a crate being loaded onto a barge came free of its slings and fell on top of him on December 15, 2011. Months earlier, during the January floods, he prevented potential disaster on the Brisbane River when he and colleague Doug Hislop successfully steered a 200-metre section of the Brisbane Riverwalk clear of the Gateway Bridge. Mr Fenton, the operations manager for Bowen Tug and Barge, was performing a routine exercise transferring crates from a ship to a barge on the day of his death. Transferring "stores" is a common job and there was no written safety procedure for it. At the time, Mr Fenton was not wearing a hard hat, lifejacket, high visibility vest or safety boots. In its investigation, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau found the crew of the crude oil tanker British Beech had, over time, removed safety barriers which would probably have prevented the accident. "The ship's crew did not view the storing operation as dangerous," the bureau said in its final report released on Thursday morning. The bureau discovered the container had not been properly rigged on board the ship and the ship's crew had not warned the barge crew of its return. Also, there were no means in place to enable the ship's crew and the barge's crew to easily communicate with each other. Previous near misses, including one involving Mr Fenton about seven years before his death, had gone unreported. "It is most likely that the tug master had become desensitised to the risks associated with loading stores containers after having completed this task on multiple occasions over many years and having more than 40 years of experience in [the] industry," the bureau said. Neither the safety training and company guidance, nor the previous serious near miss with a falling stores container, had sufficiently changed the tug master's behaviour to ensure he was not standing in a danger zone on the day of the accident. Bowen Tug and Barge has since sold its store lifting equipment and no longer carries out storing operations. BP Shipping, owner of the British Beech, reviewed its lifting and slinging procedures immediately after Mr Fenton's death. The company has since implemented a new lifting system, using purpose built and engineered steel cage frames to transport pallets and stores. "The fatal shipping accident ... demonstrates the dangers of complacency, even when undertaking routine tasks," the bureau said. This alteration in the method of handling ... greatly reduces the possibility of an accident of this type occurring again. Mr Fenton received a medal for his bravery during the 2011 floods, when he ventured into the swollen Brisbane River on the tugboat Mavis, and steered the 300-tonne walkway clear of one of the city's main bridges. He was a reluctant hero, saying afterwards "it was something we had to do and we did it."