Yongyu Li was fined $1875 at the Wellington District Court, after pleading guilty to operating a ship in an unnecessarily dangerous manner. Photo: RNZ / Richard Tindiller
A ship captain has been fined for purposefully navigating off-course during Cyclone Gabrielle.
On 14 February, during the national state of emergency, the Spinnaker SW was sailing from a point off the Mahia Peninsula towards Tauranga. However, the large bulk carrier encountered six-to-seven metre swells and started to roll, so Captain Yongyu Li decided to deviate from the original route.
He navigated the 175m vessel close to Portland Island, near dangerously shallow waters - a decision which Maritime New Zealand said put the crew, ship and the environment at risk.
Investigations manager John Maxwell said the changes meant the ship passed spots which were only 9.4m and 10m deep.
"This is very shallow for a bulk carrier of this size, and would have only left it with a couple of metres of clearance between the vessel and a potential grounding," he said.
"This was an incredibly risky decision. Navigating a large bulk carrier close to the island meant there was a risk it would get into dangerously shallow waters, removing the safety net of deeper water should something have gone wrong with the vessel, such as a loss of power."
If the ship had run aground, rescuers may have been unable to reach it in the storm, Maxwell said.
"If something went wrong, the conditions would have hampered a potential response as well."
The original passage plan was for the vessel to go around Portland Island at a safe distance, allowing for significant swells and the anticipated heavy weather.
Li has been fined $1875 at the Wellington District Court, after he pleaded guilty to operating a ship in an unnecessarily dangerous manner.