The intoxicated jet boat driver involved in a fatal accident on the Hollyford River on March 18 last year has already admitted and been convicted of a charge of breaching section 65 of the Maritime Transport Act. 

That section applies to the dangerous operation of ships or maritime products and convicted individuals face a maximum sentence of 12 months imprisonment or a $10,000 fine.

A police media team spokeswoman said the driver is due to reappear in the Invercargill District Court on July 14 for sentencing. 

“As the matter is still before the courts it would not be appropriate for police to comment further,” the spokeswoman said.

Award-winning Te Anau farmer Shane Gibbons was a passenger in the boat and died from his injuries after the jet boat collided with a rock and landed on a gravel bar, while travelling between 35 – 50kmh in fading light.

The Transport Accident Investigation Commission said the driver had three times the legal blood alcohol limit for driving a car (50 milligrams of alcohol to 100 millilitres of blood).

When someone is killed in a car crash in which the driver has drunk too much alcohol or taken drugs, the driver can face heavy penalties, including fines of up to $20,000 or a jail sentence of up to 10 years, according to a Community Law advisory manual. (https://communitylaw.org.nz/community-law-manual/chapter-31-driving-and-traffic-law/drink-drug-driving/repeated-or-serious-drink-drug-driving-heavier-penalties/)

The commission has repeated previous recommendations that Maritime New Zealand act “without delay” to create new laws or rules addressing driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and added that the boat accident killed Mr Gibbons could have been avoided if such changes had occurred.

However, it appears there is little appetite to create new laws.

A Maritime NZ media spokeswoman said Maritime NZ could not comment on law changes and referred the Southland App to the Ministry of Transport.

Ministry of Transport economic regulation manager Tom Forster confirmed there are no legal maximums for alcohol limits when boating recreationally, but the ministry had found the existing enforcement measures are appropriate.

Section 65 of the Maritime Transport Act 1994 enabled police to prosecute impaired boat drivers for acting in a careless or dangerous manner, he said.

“As maritime fatalities are usually the result of a number of contributing factors, and given the available data and research, the ministry finds that existing enforcement measures are appropriate,” Mr Forster said.

The skipper had a “clear responsibility to ensure the safety of all persons on board at all times.” 

“The TAIC report notes that the driver of the jet boat had been consuming alcohol throughout the afternoon of the crash and alcohol impairment was clearly identified as a contributing factor,” Mr Forster said.

The ministry would continue to monitor and ensure appropriate measures were in place, including considerations about drug and alcohol impairment, he said.

The Transport Accident Investigation Commission also recommended Maritime NZ improve the quality of the data in its fatal accident database so the maritime sector was better able to understand the risks of alcohol and drug use in recreational boating accidents.

Maritime NZ’s Safer Boating Forum chairwoman Sharyn Forsyth, welcomed the commission’s report and said actions were already being made to improve the data.

Ms Forsyth, who is also the director of Maritime NZ, said the commission’s report was consistent with the forum’s message, “Safer When Sober”.

“Our position is boaties should never drive, or paddle, a vessel while under the influence of alcohol or drugs,” Ms Forsyth said.

According to Maritime NZ’s 2019 Recreational Boating Participation Research, approximately 62% of boaties avoid alcohol every time they go to sea (a 5% decrease since 2018) and approximately 86% of boaties avoid alcohol at least most of the time (a 3% decrease since 2018).

“We know not to drink and drive – it’s the same on a boat,” Ms Forsyth said.

Ms Forsyth said the forum had developed a position paper on alcohol use separately and prior to the commission’s report on the Hollyford River accident.

A forum sub-group had increased its research into alcohol and boating and Maritime NZ was allocating more research funding from the fuel excise duty on petrol, she said.

Maritime NZ’s research showed alcohol had been a factor in an estimated 50 recreational boating fatalities over the last 10 years.

A review in 2007 revealed alcohol was a factor in an estimated 18% of jetboating or watercraft fatalities between 2000 and 2006, based on post-mortem examinations.

Overseas, alcohol was a factor in 28% of fatalities in Australia (2005) and 16% of fatalities in United States (2011).

The New Zealand Institute of Economic Research (NZIER) had suggested substance impairment was likely to be a contributing factor in around 25% of New Zealand’s recreational boating and watercraft fatalities, Ms Forsyth said.