The captain and navigating officer of a cargo ship that ran aground on a New Zealand reef have both pleaded guilty to a series of charges, the Guardian reported.
The men were responsible for the sailing path of the vessel Rena on 5 October 2011 when it ran aground on the well-charted Astrolabe reef near the port of Tauranga. The ship spilled about 400 tonnes of fuel oil, fouling pristine beaches and killing thousands of seabirds in what has been labelled New Zealand's worst maritime environmental disaster.
In a Tauranga court on Wednesday, both men pleaded guilty to operating a ship in a dangerous manner and trying to pervert the course of justice by changing the ship's documents after the crash, an offence that carries a maximum prison sentence of seven years.
The 774ft (236-metre) Liberia-flagged vessel split in two in January after foundering on the reef for three months. Both halves remain perched on the reef, with the stern section largely submerged. Salvage crews removed more than 1,000 tonnes of oil from the ship after the crash and are continuing the painstaking task of removing shipping containers.
New Zealand's government this month estimated the cost of the clean-up at NZ$130m (£67.8m) – most of it met by insurers but some by taxpayers. The ship is owned by Greek-based Costamare and was chartered by the Swiss-based Mediterranean Shipping Company.
The captain pleaded guilty to all six charges filed against him, while the navigating officer pleaded guilty to four of the five charges against him and did not enter a plea on the fifth, pending the outcome of a legal hearing scheduled for 22 May.
The court has suppressed the names of the men, who are due to be sentenced on 25 May.
Australian authorities impounded the ship 10 weeks before the crash after finding 17 safety and maintenance violations, but Liberian maritime authorities intervened, essentially saying the ship was safe to sail and the problems could be fixed later.
The men were responsible for the sailing path of the vessel Rena on 5 October 2011 when it ran aground on the well-charted Astrolabe reef near the port of Tauranga. The ship spilled about 400 tonnes of fuel oil, fouling pristine beaches and killing thousands of seabirds in what has been labelled New Zealand's worst maritime environmental disaster.
In a Tauranga court on Wednesday, both men pleaded guilty to operating a ship in a dangerous manner and trying to pervert the course of justice by changing the ship's documents after the crash, an offence that carries a maximum prison sentence of seven years.
The 774ft (236-metre) Liberia-flagged vessel split in two in January after foundering on the reef for three months. Both halves remain perched on the reef, with the stern section largely submerged. Salvage crews removed more than 1,000 tonnes of oil from the ship after the crash and are continuing the painstaking task of removing shipping containers.
New Zealand's government this month estimated the cost of the clean-up at NZ$130m (£67.8m) – most of it met by insurers but some by taxpayers. The ship is owned by Greek-based Costamare and was chartered by the Swiss-based Mediterranean Shipping Company.
The captain pleaded guilty to all six charges filed against him, while the navigating officer pleaded guilty to four of the five charges against him and did not enter a plea on the fifth, pending the outcome of a legal hearing scheduled for 22 May.
The court has suppressed the names of the men, who are due to be sentenced on 25 May.
Australian authorities impounded the ship 10 weeks before the crash after finding 17 safety and maintenance violations, but Liberian maritime authorities intervened, essentially saying the ship was safe to sail and the problems could be fixed later.