Get the latest tech news

New Zealand Navy ship sank off Samoa because autopilot was left on, inquiry

Interim report into the October disaster blames human error, saying HMNZS Manawanui’s ‘autopilot was not disengaged when it should have been’

A series of human errors caused a New Zealand navy ship to plough into a reef off the coast of Samoa, where it caught fire and sank, according to the preliminary findings of a military court of inquiry into the disaster. Officials did not know the cause of the sinking at the time and Chief of Navy Rear Adm Garin Golding ordered a court of inquiry to investigate. “The direct cause of the grounding has been determined as a series of human errors which meant the ship’s autopilot was not disengaged when it should have been,” Golding said in a statement on Friday.

Get the Android app