Report finds cause of New Zealand navy crash after sexist comments aimed at captain
Sexist comments were aimed at the captain of the ship after it sank of Samoa
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A navy ship crashed into a reef, caught fire and then sank due to ‘human error’, an inquiry has found.
The crash led to the first loss of a New Zealand ship since World War II. The ship was one of only nine in New Zealand’s navy.
According to the preliminary findings of a military Court of Inquiry into the disaster released on Friday a series of human errors caused the ship to plough into a reef off the coast of Samoa.
In the days after the sinking, New Zealand’s Defense Minister Judith Collins gave stinging rebukes of “misogynistic” online commenters who directed abusive comments at the ship’s captain because she was a woman.
She issued stinging rebukes of what she said were “vile” online remarks by “armchair admirals”.
“Seriously, it’s 2024,” Collins told reporters. “What the hell’s going on here?”
After days of comments on social media directed at the gender of Commander Yvonne Gray, Collins urged the public to “be better.”
The ship’s crew did not realize autopilot was engaged, believed something else had gone wrong with the ship, and did not check the HMNZS Manawanui was under manual control as it maintained course towards land, a summary of the inquiry’s first report published on Friday said. The full report has not been made public.
All 75 people on board the vessel evacuated safely as the boat foundered about a mile off the coast of Upolu, Samoa, in October.
Officials did not know the cause of the sinking at the time and Chief of Navy Rear Admiral Garin Golding ordered a Court of Inquiry to investigate.
“The direct cause of the grounding has been determined as a series of human errors which meant the ship’s autopilot was not disengaged when it should have been,” Golding said in a statement on Friday.
The crew "mistakenly believed its failure to respond to direction changes was the result of a thruster control failure,” he said. A number of contributing factors were identified, Golding said, although he did not say what they were.
The Court of Inquiry is expected to continue until the first quarter of next year. Golding said given human error was identified as the cause, a separate disciplinary process will begin after the inquiry.
“I want to reassure the public of New Zealand that we will learn from this situation and that it is on me, as the Chief of Navy, to earn back your trust," Golding said.