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The national transport safety regulator has opened an investigation into the grounding of a Darwin barge off the coast of a Tiwi Island for more than 12 hours.
On April 11, a landing craft called the Lauren Hansen was travelling from Darwin to Elcho Island when the autopilot is believed to have malfunctioned.
According to a summary from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, the ship then began an uncontrolled turn and became grounded on a shoal off the coast of Melville Island, about 2.30am.
It remained stuck on the shoal until about 2.40pm, when it was lifted by the rising tide.
The ship then returned to Darwin for an inspection of the ship's hull.
No injuries, water ingress or pollution was reported as a result of the grounding.
However, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau has opened an investigation, which is due to be completed by the end of the year.
All parties involved will be interviewed as part of the investigation.
"Should a critical safety issue be identified during the course of the investigation, relevant parties will be immediately notified so that appropriate safety action can be taken," the bureau said.
The ship was being operated by Shorebarge at the time of the incident, which has been contacted for comment by the ABC.
Landing barges are used to transport goods to remote communities, Darwin Port's Peter Dummett said.
Topics: sea-transport, transport, safety, occupational-health-and-safety, government-and-politics, maritime, tiwi-0810, nt