The Navy says there are no suspicious circumstances surrounding the death of a seaman on board the frigate Te Mana.
Able Marine Technician Shane Michael Stratton, aged 21, of Tauranga, died on the frigate on Thursday as it was returning to New Zealand from a goodwill trip to New Caledonia.
The Navy said that police had completed an on-board investigation into Able Seaman Stratton's death.
The investigation began when the Te Mana anchored off Auckland yesterday.
The Navy has not revealed how Able Seaman Stratton died.
But it issued a statement saying police had confirmed that there were no suspicious circumstances.
The statement said that a court of inquiry had been assembled to investigate the death.
It also said that Able Seaman Stratton joined the service in January 1997 and had served on Te Mana for the past five months.
Defence spokesman Lieutenant-Commander Ant Carter said police boarded the ship before it berthed because it had to wait for customs and agriculture clearances.
Te Mana was returning from New Caledonia after the TasmanEx joint defence exercises with Australian and French forces.
The ship was about 350 nautical miles from Auckland at the time of the fatality.
Defence Minister Mark Burton and Prime Minister Helen Clark have expressed sympathy over the death.
They said that the news was "deeply distressing ... for the family, colleagues and friends" of the seaman.
Able Seaman Stratton is the fourth New Zealand serviceman to die on duty this year.
Squadron Leader Murray Neilson, aged 37, was killed in February when his Skyhawk jet crashed in Australia.
Major John McNutt, 27, was killed in Kuwait when an American live training exercise went wrong and a bomb was dropped on the observation post that he and several US soldiers were standing on.
In East Timor, peacekeeper Private Boyd Atkins drowned while he was on leave.
Private Atkins was the fourth New Zealand peacekeeper to die in East Timor.
- NZPA
Police look into frigate death
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