Death at Ports of Auckland

Mari­time Uni­on of New Zea­l­and Nation­al Sec­ret­ary Craig Har­ris­on says the death of an Auck­land port work­er is a tragedy that will be dev­ast­at­ing for fam­ily and work­mates.

26 year old Atiroa Tuaiti died on the morn­ing of Tues­day 19 April 2022 in a work­place acci­dent while work­ing at the Ports of Auck­land.

It is under­stood he fell from a height while work­ing on the Singa­por­ean flagged con­tain­er ship Capi­taine Tas­man. Details are yet to be con­firmed.

Atiroa was employed at the private steve­doring com­pany Wal­lace Invest­ments that oper­ates at the Ports of Auck­land.

Mr Har­ris­on says the incid­ent will be invest­ig­ated and Mari­time New Zea­l­and and Police are at the scene. The Mari­time Uni­on is will­ing to be involved in that invest­ig­a­tion where pos­sible.

He says the tragedy rein­forces the dangers faced by port work­ers every­day through­out New Zea­l­and.

Mr Har­ris­on says the Mari­time Uni­on wants a nation­al inquiry into port safety fol­low­ing a num­ber of deaths and injur­ies in New Zea­l­and ports in recent years.