Boat ran into Mt Maunganui as skipper and deckhand slept

Thursday, 14 May 2020

The Tiro II run aground on North Rock. Mt Maunganui.

A fishing boat ran aground into Mount Maunganui while being operated by a crew member on his first sea voyage, who was supposed to have awoken his sleeping skipper but fell asleep himself.

The 18.5 metre Tiro II ran into North Rock, Mount Maunganui, at about 2.30am on August 16, 2018.

The boat, a long-line fishing vessel, was returning from an eight-day voyage.

The boat's skipper was Nathaniel Lucas, who had 18 years of experience. He was joined by a deckhand, Michael Kingi, who had never been to sea before, another deckhand with four years' experience, and a Ministry of Primary Industries observer.

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Deckhand Michael Kingi was asleep when the boat hit the rocks.

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On the afternoon of August 15 the boat had concluded fishing operations and was about 90 nautical miles from the Tauranga Harbour entrance.

At about 10pm Lucas instructed Kingi on how to maintain a course and how to operate the boat. Lucas then went for a sleep, telling Kingi to wake him up if the weather changed, if boats came within three miles of the boat, and definitely no later than midnight, so he could guide the boat into port.

But at midnight Kingi decided to stay on watch and to let Lucas get more sleep. Then Kingi himself fell asleep.

They all woke up when the boat ran aground on North Rock, at the foot of Mount Maunganui.

Lucas notified Maritime NZ, then waited for an incoming tide before successfully refloating the boat at 7.30am.

Following the incident, Maritime NZ charged Lucas with operating a vessel without a maritime engineer aboard and for operating a ship outside its prescribed operating limits because on the voyage he had fished outside the 100 nautical mile limit.

Lucas appeared in Napier District Court on Tuesday after pleading guilty to both charges. Judge Gordon Matenga sentenced him to a fine of $3200.

In earlier proceedings Kingi pleaded guilty to operating a ship in a manner that caused danger and was fined $1700.

Ocean Venture Ltd pleaded guilty to operating a vessel without qualified personnel and in December was fined $10,000.