Navy Commander Faces Trial After Ship Sinks

0:00On March 2nd, a former Royal Navy officer is set to face a court-martial after the New Zealand Navy ship she commanded Strucker Reef and Senkoff, Samoa. Commandery Vaughn Gray was in charge of the HMNZS Manawanui, a specialist dive in survey vessel when the incident happened on October 5th, too. 1024 Two other crew members, including Lieutenant Commander Matthew Gazzago, will also stand trial. The 85-meter ship was conducting a reef survey near Upoğlu Island when Iran a ground, caught fire, and capsized. A Navy inquiry pinned the calls on human air as senior crew members overlooked the autopilot staying on while trying to maneuver away from the reef. All 75 crew members safely abandoned ship and lifeboats amid rough seas and were rescued with no fatalities. Two needed hospital care for a dislocated shoulder and back injury, while a dozen others had minor cuts in soreness. New Zealand quickly flew them home, Gray, who served nearly 20 years in the Royal Navy

1:03before moving to New Zealand and taking her first command in December 2022. Faces charges of being absent from the bridge within a nautical mile of the reef and not properly handling risks in uncharted waters. Conviction could mean up to two years in prison. This marched the first peacetime loss of a New Zealand Navy ship since World War II, with a $103 million New Zealand vessel still, resting on the seabed near Samoa as investigations wrap up.