SUVA, June 26 (Xinhua) -- Four Fiji Navy officers charged for the grounding of a warship on Belcher Reef in 2016 have pleaded guilty in the General Court Martial on Tuesday.
The four appeared before president of the General Court Martial Netani Sukanaivalu who has adjourned the case to Thursday for the prosecution to provide the summary of facts.
Captain of RFNS (Republic of Fiji Naval Ship) Kiro, Lt. Samuela Cikaitoga has been charged with three counts of neglecting to perform a duty contrary to the Army Act 1955.
The charge sheet stated that Cikaitoga while holding the appointment of Commanding Officer on board the vessel, gave approval to the navigator to go ahead with the initial plan without paying attention to the requirements of regulation on safety clearance for coastal navigation.
Cikaitoga failed to fill his order book which he was required to do so and failed to train the navigation officer Mike Brown to be familiar with the ship's navigation equipment.
Brown is charged with neglecting to perform his duty contrary to the Army Act 1955. The charge sheet stated that Brown while holding the appointment of navigation officer on board RFNS Kiro, neglected to alter its course to avoid grounding the vessel on Belcher Reef.
Lt. Ben Salacakau and Lt. Saula Tuilevuka are also charged with neglecting to perform their duty.
The accident on the RFNS Kiro on July 14, 2016 happened at the height of bad weather and poor visibility, after the ship suffered blackout and was thrown by the waves over the Belcher Reef. The vessel started getting water ingress but remained afloat and hardly stuck. No crew aboard were injured in the accident.
Kiro was a redwing class minesweeper provided to Fiji by the Australian Defense Force in 1995.
