An inquiry launched by the government on Friday found that a Royal New Zealand Navy ship ran aground last month and sank near Samoa's coast as a result human error.

HMNZS Manawanui - the navy's specialist diving and hydrographic ship - grounded on a coral reef in the southern part of Samoa on October 5, while conducting survey operation. All 75 crew survived.

The head of New Zealand Navy, Rear Admiral Gavin Golding, said in a Friday statement that the cause of the grounding was a series human errors. This meant that the autopilot of the ship had not been disengaged at the time it should have.

The crew didn't realise that the ship was still in autopilot mode and therefore thought it would not respond to changes in direction due to a failure of the thruster control.

Golding stated that a larger inquiry would examine the reasons for the crew's failure to spot the error. The investigation is expected to be concluded in the first quarter next year.

Once the investigation is complete, he said, a separate disciplinary procedure will be initiated against those who were involved.

New Zealand's Navy was already struggling with a shortage of resources. Three of its nine vessels were idle because of a personnel shortage before the sinking Manawanui. (Reporting and editing by Stephen Coates in Sydney, Alasdair pal from Sydney)

(source: Reuters)