The skipper of a Fullers ferry has been fined $3000 for sailing too fast after the vessel collided with another ferry in dense fog on the Waitemata Harbour last year.
Quickcat II skipper Geffrey Bryan Dazeley, aged 33, of Whangaparaoa, was yesterday fined in the North Shore District Court on two charges of operating a vessel in a manner causing unnecessary risk.
The Quickcat II and the Quickcat were travelling between Auckland and Waiheke Island on May 31 when they collided.
Both vessels were slightly damaged in the 9.25 am collision, but none of the 127 passengers - many of whom were told to throw themselves to the floor - was injured.
Judge Bruce Buckton told Dazeley that the Quickcat II's 15 knot speed was too fast for the conditions, as fog had reduced visibility to 50 metres.
The skipper of the second ferry, David Owen Jones, 35, has pleaded not guilty to six similar charges.
He will reappear next month.
Ferry mishap skipper fined
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