Friday, 28 September 2012 - 11:38am |
National News

Ship arrives in Nelson with deceased crewman onboard

1 min read

The Nelson CIB has conducted an investigation into the death of a crew member on a fishing vessel while enroute to Nelson from Mauritius.

The Australian registered vessel the Antarctic Chieftain arrived in Port Nelson at 8.50am yesterday and was met by staff from the Australian Maritime Safety Authority and Nelson Detectives.

The ship's captain had reported the death of the crew member on Sunday when the vessel was about 270 miles south-east of Tasmania.

Detective Senior Sergeant Wayne McCoy of Nelson CIB said police had interviewed all seven crew about the tragedy and the matter has been referred to the Coroner.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority is continuing its investigation into procedures and protocols aboard the vessel.

Police have today released the name of the deceased crew member. He was Mark William Sweeny, aged 53, of Nelson. Mr Sweeny was the Second Engineer on the vessel.

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