{"id":10536,"date":"2024-07-02T17:48:24","date_gmt":"2024-07-02T05:48:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/?p=10536"},"modified":"2024-07-02T17:48:24","modified_gmt":"2024-07-02T05:48:24","slug":"skipper-who-crashed-into-northland-ferry-ordered-to-pay-more-than-130k-to-victims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/?p=10536","title":{"rendered":"Skipper who crashed into Northland ferry ordered to pay more than $130k to victims"},"content":{"rendered":"

The skipper of a power boat who crashed into a passenger ferry in the Bay of Islands has been ordered to pay his victims more than $130,000 in reparations.<\/p>\n

Auckland man James Thomson<\/a>\u00a0was driving a power boat near Russell at more than 20 knots on 13 April last year when he struck the historic ferry Waitere with 19 people on board.<\/p>\n

The power boat, the 9.8m\u00a0Onepoto<\/i>, struck the\u00a0Waitere,\u00a0<\/i>also known as the Blue Ferry, side-on.<\/p>\n

The crash penetrated the wheelhouse and leaving the ferry skipper, Bill Elliott, with critical head and spinal injuries.<\/p>\n

One passenger was thrown into the water while others received minor injuries.<\/p>\n

The 90-year-old wooden ferry sank about an hour after the collision.<\/p>\n

Thomson had\u00a0earlier pleaded guilty<\/a>\u00a0to one charge of operating a vessel dangerously and appeared for sentencing in the Auckland District Court on 17 June.<\/p>\n

In a reserved sentence released on Tuesday, Judge Nick Webby ordered Thomson to pay his victims emotional harm reparation of $128,000 and consequential loss reparation of $3200.<\/p>\n

Thomson told the court he had been distracted by an engine alarm sounding from a display unit next to the helm, and had failed to see the\u00a0Waitere\u00a0<\/i>approaching from his starboard side.<\/p>\n

He was travelling in open waters at about 20.5 knots at the time.<\/p>\n

\"Passengers<\/p>\n

Passengers from the badly damaged Waitere are transferred to another ferry to bring them back to shore.\u00a0<\/span>Photo:\u00a0Supplied<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The prosecution was brought by Maritime New Zealand with the charge of operating the\u00a0Onepoto\u00a0<\/i>in a manner that caused unnecessary danger laid under the Maritime Transport Act 1994.<\/p>\n

Maritime New Zealand manager of general regulatory operations Jason Lunjevich said it was a serious incident that could have been avoided.<\/p>\n

“Our thoughts and sympathies go out to the skipper of the\u00a0Waitere\u00a0<\/i>and his loved ones, and to other victims affected by this incident.”<\/p>\n

“Had the\u00a0Onepoto\u00a0<\/i>skipper given full attention to keeping a look out for other vessels and hazards, and had he been travelling at a safe speed while dealing with the alarm, this incident and the injuries sustained from it could have been avoided,” Lunjevich said.<\/p>\n

“The message for other skippers is, it is your responsibility to stay alert for other boats, craft, swimmers and hazards. Staying alert and keeping a look out prevents collisions and the consequences that they can cause.”<\/p>\n

He acknowledged Thomson had expressed remorse and accepted responsibility for the incident by cooperating with the investigation and pleading guilty at the first opportunity.<\/p>\n

Lunjevich also praised local emergency services, the harbour master, commercial maritime operators and bystanders who responded to the incident, rescuing the skipper and ferry passengers before the vessel sank.<\/p>\n

VIA RNZ<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The skipper of a power boat who crashed into a passenger ferry in the Bay of Islands has been ordered to pay his victims more than $130,000 in reparations. Auckland man James Thomson\u00a0was driving a power boat near Russell at more than 20 knots on 13 April last year when he struck the historic ferry […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":10537,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[222,208,174,177],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10536","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news","category-lifestyle","category-nz-news","category-world"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10536","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10536"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10536\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10538,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10536\/revisions\/10538"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10537"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10536"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10536"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10536"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}