Diver run over by a glass-bottomed boat

Ulrik Pedersen was run over while diving. Photo / Janna Dixon

A diver was recovering in hospital yesterday after being run over by a tour boat.

Ulrik Pedersen was free-diving at Leigh in Northland on Friday morning when he was hit by a glass-bottomed craft.

The impact sliced open his arm, broke one bone and dislocated another. He needed a plate inserted in his arm.

The 28-year-old product engineer was hit while spearfishing 5m from rocks off the southern point of Panetiki Island in the mouth of Leigh harbour.

He said he had an inflatable buoy and flag on a 20m line marking his position.

"I had my head down and suddenly it was like I was hit by a wave."

Pedersen said the float line between the buoy and his speargun became tangled and he was dragged through the water by his neck.

The line came loose and he surfaced, noticing blood in the water and damage to his arm.

"I could see it was dangling a bit so I knew it was broken."

The boat stopped and Pedersen yelled to the skipper who turned round, dragged him aboard and took him to shore where an ambulance waited.

The boat was owned by Glass Bottom Boat Ltd, which has two directors, husband and wife Ivan and Christina Blackwell.

A man who answered the company's phone but refused to confirm his identity last night said there had been an incident and it was being investigated through the proper channels.

He said Pedersen had a buoy but there was no proper flag up.

Maritime safety rules dictate that boat drivers can go close to shore as long as they don't go faster than 5 knots within 200m of land.

The Maritime Safety Authority is making preliminary inquiries and will decide on Tuesday whether to investigate.