Mt Maunganui boat crash: Skipper who fell asleep at the wheel fined $7k

Asleep at the wheel, Miss Fleur skipper Esmond O'Reilly crashed into rocks at the base of Mauao. Photo / Supplied

It was almost midnight and Esmond O'Reilly had been in charge of the Miss Fleur for 16 hours when he fell asleep at the boat's wheel, steering her into the base of Mount Maunganui.

Now the Tauranga man has escaped a large fine for the crash that forced the occupants to abandon ship, because a judge ruled he wouldn't have the means to pay it.

The fishing charter vessel was lost in the January 2020 crash but fortunately, nobody was injured.

Both the company and O'Reilly were later charged under the Maritime Transport Act, and charges were also filed under health and safety legislation.

O'Reilly was charged with exposing individuals to risk of death or serious injury, failing to maintain a proper lookout, and operating the vessel outside the prescribed limits that apply to the Bay of Plenty inshore waters. He pleaded guilty to all three charges.

According to the summary of facts, the vessel left Tauranga Harbour for a day of fishing about 7am on January 31.

O'Reilly had originally indicated the group would return to port around 6.30pm, which was reported to the company's owner, Aaron Jones.

By 7pm, Jones had not received any communication from the vessel and decided to text O'Reilly to query what time he intended to return.

O'Reilly replied that the charter was running behind schedule and intended to return to port about 11pm.

It was upon his return to Tauranga Harbour that O'Reilly fell asleep and collided with the base of Mauao, near the base track.

An investigation was later launched by Maritime New Zealand and the charges followed.

The vessel was later recovered but deemed unsalvagable. Photo / NZME

Early guilty pleas were entered to the two Maritime charges, but O'Reilly pleaded guilty at the last minute for the charge of exposing individuals to risk of harm.

"For reasons that are not fully explained, Mr O'Reilly took the prosecutor to the brink of a judge-alone trial and entered a plea of guilty on the day," Judge Paul Mabey said during sentencing on Wednesday.

Beginning with a sentence starting point of a $50,000 fine, that was reduced by 15 per cent due to O'Reilly's guilty pleas.

That lowered the fine to $42,500, "but that figure is largely academic," the judge said.

The court heard that O'Reilly had previously spent time in prison for drug-related offending.

He is currently unemployed and has no assets to his name.

"Mr O'Reilly is currently on a jobseeker benefit which provides him with a little over $350 [per week].

"He's effectively without means. But he's keen to work, and at age 54 with his background and experience, it can be expected that he will get work.

"I'm not going to let Mr O'Reilly walk away scot-free with no penalty - there needs to be something he needs to pay off.

"It will be impossible while he's on a benefit, but when he's working, he can be dealing with the fines department and chipping away at it."

Judge Mabey fined the skipper a total of $7000, which may be paid off on a weekly basis.

The company, Tauranga Fishing Charters, was convicted but discharged without sentence in February.