A Wellington-based fishing company, its sole director, and a master were fined a total of $449,500 over the sinking of the grossly overloaded fishing boat ‘Victory II’ in June 2017. The company was also ordered to pay $64,800 in reparation to the crew for unpaid wages and emotional harm.
Maritime NZ Central Region Compliance Manager, Michael-Paul Abbott, said Victory II should have carried no more than five tonnes of fish.
Instead, it was loaded with at least 28 tonnes when it sank near Kaikōura on 10 June 2017.
That is like putting 20 medium-sized cars onto a small fishing boat. Overloading sinks ships. The boat sank in only two minutes. The four men onboard were very fortunate to be rescued. This trip could have ended in tragedy and the lives of the crew were unnecessarily put in danger. It is also important people understand that company officials, not only the skipper, are responsible for the safety of all the people on board a ship or a boat,
…he said.
Maritime NZ investigated the sinking, and prosecuted the company and its director and the vessel’s master.
They pleaded guilty to three charges under the Health and Safety at Work Act, and the company also pleaded guilty to two further charges under the Maritime Transport Act.
They were sentenced in the Wellington District Court on 4 March.
The investigation found that for a year before Victory II sank the vessel had been consistently overloaded, with its smallest catch being 5.584 tonnes and its largest 27 tonnes.
Both the director and the master told Maritime NZ they did not know the vessel’s load capacity was five tonnes, and only the former has seen the vessel’s “stability book”, which sets the limit on loading and includes other safety information.
Additionally, the investigation found that Nino’s Limited had stopped paying wages to two of Victory II’s crew after the sinking.
An employer must pay seafarers’ wages for two months after a vessel sinks or until they have new employment, whichever occurs first.
The incident
On 7 June 2017, the Victory II left Wellington to fish off the coast of the South Island, near Kaikōura. The master and three crew were on board.
Victory II fished on 8-10 June 2017 then began its return to Wellington. The weather and sea conditions were good.
However, overloading made the vessel so low in the water that its back deck flooded and it began to sink.
At 11.27am the master radioed a distress call and the crew launched a life raft. The vessel sank so quickly that the four men did not have enough time to put on their life jackets.
Helicopters were mobilised but the four men were rescued by a local fisherman, who had launched his boat on hearing the distress call and recovered them to shore.
See also:
- Maritime NZ launches ‘Intoxication’ campaign for fishers
- Tips for safe handling of chemicals onboard
