Members of Taranaki’s port community have expressed strong concern that safety and efficiency is being compromised by the absence of a local maritime safety inspector (MSI).
Maritime New Zealand says it is reliant on obtaining additional funding before it can again appoint another to the role, which has remained vacant since the incumbent’s retirement over a year ago.
In the meantime, MSIs are deployed from elsewhere in the country when an incident occurs, causing operational delays and apparently tempting workers to continue in a potentially unsafe environment.
