Former CEO Of New Zealand’s Largest Container Port Fined $190,000 Over Dockworker’s Death

Auckland District Court has fined former Ports of Auckland (POAL) chief executive Tony Gibson NZ$190,000 after finding him guilty of breaching health and safety responsibilities in connection with the 2020 death of stevedore Pala’amo Kalati.

Gibson was sentenced on February 21, 2025, and has been ordered to pay a fine of NZ$130,000, with an additional NZ$60,000 in costs. He served as the CEO of the port from the year 2011 to 2021.

This is the first time in New Zealand that the top officer of a large company has been convicted under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 (HSWA).

Kalati who was 31 years of age at the time of the accident, was killed at the Fergusson Container Terminal in August 2020 when a container fell while the workers were unloading cargo from the MV Constantinos P.

Prosecutors argued that Gibson was aware of critical safety risks at the port but failed to take sufficient actions to address them.

Maritime NZ director Kirstie Hewlett says that Gibson had the knowledge, influence, and resources to improve safety measures but neglected to do so.

Judge Steve Bonnar KC stated that Gibson’s failure was a serious departure from his duty of care, though there was no claim of recklessness.

The prosecution also highlighted previous safety violations at the port, dating back to at least 2018, and POAL’s history of convictions for inadequate worker safety measures.

Gibson’s defence team argued that he was a committed leader with good intentions but was not fully aware of safety breaches under his management.

Defence counsel John Billington KC stated that responsibility was shared across many individuals within the organisation.

In 2023, POAL pleaded guilty to two charges related to Kalati’s death and was fined NZ$561,000. Maritime NZ initially sought NZ$395,000 in costs from Gibson, later reducing its request to NZ$60,000.

One of the contributing factors to the occurrence was the reduced supervision of work operations due to process changes brought up by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hewlett said that the case should be a warning to business leaders about the importance of understanding and mitigating critical safety risks.

She also acknowledged improvements made in New Zealand’s port safety standards after Kalati’s death, including the introduction of the Approved Code of Practice for cargo loading and unloading.

No one from Kalati’s family was present during the sentencing and Gibson and his legal team declined to comment on the matter.

References: The New Zealand Herald, transport talk

Source: Maritime Shipping News