KEY POINTS:
A skipper who sparked a massive search and rescue operation after failing to turn on his ship's radio will pay nothing towards the operation, which cost taxpayers $40,000 for the use of one plane alone.
The 28m steel-hulled schooner Alvei left Vanuatu on November 13 and was due in the Bay of Islands on December 1. But a search was launched after the vessel was not seen or heard from for more than two weeks. A $5000-an-hour Air Force Orion was scrambled to hunt for the Alvei.
The Orion eventually found the ship 760km north of the North Island, but had to tell the crew to switch on their radio. The bill for use of the Orion alone is understood to have topped $40,000 for eight hours use.
Maritime NZ spokeswoman, Julia Lang, said fishing boats were also posted to watch for the missing vessel, and a Piper Chieftain flew to Norfolk Island and back unsuccessfully searching for the Alvei.
However, reports that the skipper - California-born, Nelson-based Evan Logan - would be facing a hefty bill were "absolutely incorrect", she said.
"It was made very clear that no, that's not part of it at all. The vessel is in international waters and we don't recoup costs or anything like that.
"But MNZ will be speaking with the skipper, absolutely, about the importance of keeping scheduled radio trip reports."
Air Force spokesman Squadron Leader Glenn Davis said staff would not be taking the matter further, despite the Orion's hefty running costs.
Squadron Leader Davis said the Orion - which spent eight hours searching for the missing Alvei - was Government-funded for 150 hours of search flying time a year.
"More often than not we will go well over that," he said. "But we have an obligation to go and search for people regardless, we do not determine what happens afterwards."
Ms Lang said instances where a vessel's skipper did not have his radio turned on were "fairly rare".
"Obviously if the VH [radio] had been on and we were able to communicate with that vessel then we wouldn't have needed to put some assets out there to search for them."
The Alvei is due to arrive in Opua, in eight days.
