$500k fine after fishing boat sank in 2 minutes

A boat sank in two minutes and four men on board had to be rescued after it was overloaded with at least 28 tonnes of fish.

In June 2017, three crew members and the master of fishing boat Victory II left Wellington to fish off the coast of the South Island near Kaiko¯ ura. When the crew decided to make their way back to Wellington, the weather and sea conditions were good but, in a matter of minutes, water began flooding the boat’s back deck and it began to sink.

The fishing company Nino’s Limited and its director. Antonio Basile, along with vessel master Shane McCauley were fined $449,500 at Wellington District Court yesterday. The company was also ordered to pay $64,800 to the crew for emotional harm and unpaid wages.

At the time, the boat, which could carry no more than five tonnes, had been overloaded with at least 28 tonnes of fish.

As the vessel started to sink, McCauley made a distress call and the crew members launched a liferaft. But the boat sank so quickly, all four men did not have enough time to put their lifejackets on. Helicopters were sent to the area but the men were rescued by a local fisherman who had launched his boat when he heard the distress call and took them to shore.

The company and Basile, and McCauley pleaded guilty to one charge each of exposing people to risk of death or serious injury by failing to ensure people’s health and safety. The company also pleaded guilty to two further charges of not paying two crew members’ wages after the sinking. One person was owed 47 days of wages and the other was owed 12 days of wages.

Maritime New Zealand headed an investigation into the incident and found that a year before the incident, the boat had consistently been overloaded. The boat’s smallest catch was 5.584 tonnes and its largest was 27 tonnes.

Basile and McCauley told Maritime New Zealand they did not know the vessel’s load capacity was five tonnes. Only Basile had seen the vessel’s stability book which sets the limit on loading and includes other safety information.

Maritime New Zealand central region compliance manager Michael-Paul Abbott said overloading the boat was ‘‘like putting 20 medium-sized cars onto a small fishing boat’’.

‘‘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.’’