Mauro Balomaga News

Ship captain Mauro Balomaga, 44, and navigator Leonil Relon, 37, released after serving seven months in New Zealand prison. The pair  were sentenced to seven months' jail in May for operating a vessel in a manner likely to cause danger, discharging a contaminant and altering ship documents. With sentences under two years, the Filipino men were to be automatically released after serving half of their jail term.Balomaga's lawyer Paul Mabey confirmed to Fairfax NZ News that the pair were being released from Waikeria Prison and would then be deported to the Philippines. The men were charged under the Maritime Transport Act, Resource Management Act and Crimes Act after the Rena crashed on the Astrolabe Reef on October 5 last year.

MNZ laid six charges against the Master, Mauro Balomaga, and five charges against the Second Officer, Leonil Relon, following the grounding. Both men pleaded guilty to all charges against them.The two men were  each sentenced to seven months imprisonment. The Director of MNZ, Keith Manch, said the two senior officers, who were responsible for the navigation of the ship, had breached basic principles of safe navigation. After a passage plan for the journey from Napier to Tauranga had been prepared, the Master had given approval for the Second Officer to deviate from the plan to make good time.