WELLINGTON, New Zealand, May 25 (UPI) -- Two officers of a container ship that ran aground causing New Zealand's worst maritime disaster will spend seven months in jail, prosecutors said.
Captain Mauro Malomaga and navigator Leonil Relon, both of the Philippines, pleaded guilty to mishandling the Liberian-flagged MV Rena and altering ship documents, the BBC reported Friday.
Hundreds of tons of oil leaked out of the cargo vessel when it hit a reef Oct. 5 off North Island.
The oil killed thousands of birds and contaminated the pristine beaches of Tauranga's Bay of Plenty.
Maritime New Zealand said the ship's radar detected the reef 10 minutes before the grounding, giving the captain sufficient time to alter course and avoid the disaster, CNN reported.
"In this case, the master and the second officer have breached the most basic fundamental principles of safe navigation," MNZ Director Keith Manch said.
