NZ Maritime Union Welcomes Port CEO Conviction

The Maritime Union of New Zealand has welcomed the conviction of former Port of Auckland (POAL) CEO Tony Gibson on a health and safety charge.

Gibson was found guilty by Judge Bonnar in the Auckland District Court on Wednesday.

Charges were laid against Gibson by industry regulator Maritime New Zealand under the Health and Safety at Work Act (2015) following the death of POAL employee Pala’amo (Amo) Kalati on August 30, 2020. He was killed when a container fell from an operating crane.

On the night of the incident, he was working as a "lasher" onboard a container ship. In the past, lashers had reported to a lash leading hand who communicated by radio with the worker in charge of supervising the crane operator. However, Port of Aukland Limited has disestablished the role as part of forming "bubbles" in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

In the bay next to where Kalati was working, a crane was lifting pairs of containers off the vessel. The crane operator did not know that Kalati and his work partner were working in the bay over.