A deckhand killed falling from a log ship at the Port of Tauranga this year was not wearing a safety harness, an investigation into the man's death has concluded.
The deck cadet, a Chinese national aboard the bulk carrier Mount Hikurangi, fell to his death on February 27.
A report into the death by New Zealand's Transport Accident Investigation Commission found that the crew of the Mount Hikurangi routinely failed to follow company procedures by working on top of logs without the required safety harnesses.
The commission said the logs had just been loaded and the crew were applying chain lashings to logs above deck when the cadet fell 10m from the stack onto the wharf and then into the harbour.
''The deck cadet did not survive this fall. His body was recovered by divers a number of hours later.