The vessel lies in the commonwealth waters of the Timor Sea in northern Western Australia and is tied into the Stagg oil and gas field via a catenary anchor leg mooring buoy operated by Jadestone Energy.

Shuttle tankers then transfer the oil from the Dampier Spirit to shore and to other transportation vessels.

During the inspection the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority found that Teekay Shipping Australia had not taking practicable steps to properly train staff on board the vessel.

Inspectors found a mandatory training competency report had not been issued in 18 months.

When raw information was produced from the human resources database used by Teekay to manage training, "numerous discrepancies" were revealed between the qualifications required and actual qualifications held by workers.

Inspectors found a "number of people did not have the training" required for a major accident event.

Of the seven people aboard the vessel at the time of the inspection, only one worker had a current Helicopter Landing Officer qualification - a fundamental skillset and qualification in the event of a helicopter crash. The other six personnel were found to be lacking the necessary training.

Inspectors also found that only one worker out of seven had a current offshore crane operator qualification.

No one aboard the vessel had relevant paramedic qualifications, and only one had completed paramedic training, but did not hold a valid qualification.

"The failure of Teekay Shipping Australia to take all reasonable practicable steps to train members of the workforce for their functions and activities, as described in the Dampier Spirit facility safety case, could result in injury or death to personnel at the facility," NOPSEMA's inspector said.

The vessel has not been shut down, and workers are still aboard. Energy News understands the facility continues to operate.

Energy News reached out to Teekay Shipping Australia for comment but was unable to receive a response.