Fishing boat capsizes after crew fall asleep, owner Wild Fish fined $27k

A photo of Jan capsized in Bay of Islands in 2016. Picture / supplied

The owner of a commercial fishing vessel has been fined more than $27,000 after its teen helmsman fell asleep and the ship capsized.

The vessel Jan was in the Bay of Islands in the early hours of January 2016 with a 17-year-old deckhand at the helm, Maritime New Zealand said today.

The deckhand had worked a full day and on less than two hours sleep was woken up to take watch. It was his first time being on watch during the night, Maritime NZ said.

The deckhand fell asleep, the vessel went on autopilot and Jan was grounded near Howe Point.

"The grounding woke the skipper and the other crew. The skipper ordered the crew to abandon ship due to the hull being breached and water ingress. Jan then capsized and was a total loss," Maritime NZ said today.

Maritime NZ took action against Jan's owner Wild Fish, which was fined $27,200 in the North Shore District Court yesterday.

Maritime NZ alleged that Wild Fish had no "effective system for monitoring the sleep of crew members to ensure that overly fatigued crew did not go on watch".

Maritime NZ's Neil Rowarth said vessel operators "must have an effective system for managing crew fatigue".

"With all three of Jan's crew, including the helmsman, asleep it was a matter of luck that this was not a fatal accident," Rowarth said.

Judge Dianne Partridge, who sentenced Wild Fish, said: "It is clear that the watch alarm could have prevented the grounding of the vessel if the crew were aware of the existence of it.

"It is clear that the crew of the Jan were entitled to trust that the equipment they were using was adequate, and that they had training and processes in place that were able to keep them safe. That wasn't the case at all".

The directors of Wild Fish (NZ) could not be reached for comment.