A delivery truck that toppled over on board Gozo Channel’s Gaudos on January 30 was overloaded, according to a report tabled in Parliament this evening.

The report, tabled by Gozo Minister Anton Refalo and signed by Gozo Channel’s senior engineering and maintenance manager Sammy Grech, said the truck did not have dedicated and proper lashing points and could not have been adequately secured to the deck. It was loaded to a height and weight more than permissible, shifting the centre of gravity higher.

Once the cargo shifted to one side the truck became unstable and, under the influence of the forces generated by the rolling vessel entering Mġarr Harbour, the cargo’s centre of gravity also moved from the truck’s centre line, resulting in the truck rolling to its side.

The space between the cargo of melamine piles and the truck’s side was not blocked, and considering the ease with which such sheets could slide, even small forces were enough to shift the cargo inside the truck, in spite of the lashing webs pressing the chipboard sheets to the truck’s flatbed, the report said.

It noted that the truck could have been refused boarding in view of the adverse conditions – force 6 to 7 westerly to southwesterly winds, locally force 7 to 8, with the sea rough becoming very rough – but especially if it had been known that the bottom chipboard sheets were melamine, with their low coefficient friction and ease of sliding.

Nine minutes after the ferry left Ċirkewwa, the bridge was informed that the melamine was shifting, and the master altered course to reduce the rolling. As the vessel approached Mġarr the master had to alter course to prepare to enter harbour, exposing the vessel to the full force of the westerly wind and swell. When the vessel rolled heavily to starboard, the truck rolled over and came to rest on the starboard bulkhead.

The report recommended the use of additional and different lashing equipment, such as jacks, to avoid vertical movement in vehicles. It said more attention should also be paid for inadequately-loaded vehicles to be refused boarding. Shippers were to ensure that vehicles leaving their warehouses were loaded according to manufacturers’ instructions, it said adding that shippers should be made aware of the requirement of proper lashing points on their vehicles.