Fines Levied Against Lake Triview
On May 24, 2014, the 177 meter long, 32282 dwt general cargo vessel Lake Triview ran aground near New Plymouth, New Zealand. The vessel had been at anchor offshore with its cargo of soybean meal when the anchor began to drag. The master of the vessel requested the anchor be raised and notified the port to put two tugs on standby. However, a mechanical fault prevented the anchor being raised and the Lake Triview drifted onto a rock reef. The vessel remained aground for only a few minutes until the engines freed it from the reef. The anchor was later retrieved, but no notification of the grounding was sent.
The harbormaster in New Plymouth notified the authorities that the anchor had dragged . Subsequently, the authorities requested details of the incident. Not until the Lake Triview berthed in New Plymouth on May 27, did details of the grounding reach authorities. Divers inspected the hull of the cargo vessel and found 12 hull breaches to the ballast tanks. One hole was large enough for a diver to swim through. Fortunately, no damage was found near the fuel tanks and no pollution was detected. The master of the Lake Triview was fined 2,000 NZD for failing to report the incident.
