In 2021, Sandy Calkin was captured on CCTV footage walking north on Queens Wharf before his body was found in the water.
In 2021, Sandy Calkin was captured on CCTV footage walking north on Queens Wharf before his body was found in the water.
A skipper who has saved several people from the water during his 15 years working at Wellington Harbour says balustrades around the most dangerous waterfront areas would prevent deaths.
Skipper Kieren Boyle told Newstalk ZB that having large venues like TSB Arena on the waterfront without more safety measures in place was asking for trouble.
“To distinguish the actual ground from the harbour, you can do that during the day- you can see that it’s blue water and grey concrete. You go down there at night. it’s black on black.”
People who were intoxicated or from out of town were particularly at risk, Boyle said.
Tributes for Isaac Levings were placed outside his classroom at Elmwood School in Christchurch.
If people were walking on the waterfront alone and not looking where they were going, they could fall over the side of the wharf, he said.
“Then you’re trying to scratch onto the piles covered in mussels to get up the wharf. You don’t know where the ladders are because you’re not from Wellington, you’re not from the waterfront, and you can’t tell where the ladders are that are illuminated with red lights, you’ve just fallen into the water.”
He said there should be a balustrade along Taranaki St Wharf outside Te Papa and then from the bottom of the TSB Arena to where the maritime police boat is.
