A skipper who struck and killed his friend with his boat in 2020 has been sentenced this week in the Auckland District Court.
Zhenhua Yang was charged under the Maritime Transport Act for operating a ship in a manner that caused unnecessary danger to others.
In February 2020 Yang had taken a group of people out on his boat to go scuba diving. A number of people onboard were experienced divers.
Four people onboard went diving near Billy Goat Point off Motutapu Island. They re-surfaced about 20 minutes later, but two struggled to get back onto the boat.
Maritime New Zealand said Yang then reversed the boat towards them to avoid rocks in the area, but failed to check if it was safe before doing so.
The propeller struck one of the divers - his friend - who suffered fatal injuries.
Yang was sentenced and fined $5850. He was also ordered to pay just over $14,000 toward funeral costs already incurred.
The court also ordered Yang to pay $150,000 in reparation.
Maritime New Zealand's investigations manager Pete Dwen said the incident was a result of "a number of failings".
"Mr Yang did not keep an eye on the divers, allowed his vessel to drift and then decided to reverse, without confirming that people in the water behind the vessel were out of the way," he said.
"Poor situational awareness and decision-making in this case led to catastrophic results."
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