The family of a cruise ship crew member killed in an explosion has been awarded compensation of $250,000.
Allan Allarde Navales, 32, died when the corroded cylinder exploded while the Bermuda-flagged Emerald Princess was berthed at Dunedin's Port Otago on February 9, 2017.
Late last year, the Dunedin District Court heard Navales' Filipino family was struggling after his death and lived in poverty without his NZ$37,000 salary.
Judge Kevin Phillips released his decision ordering Princess Cruise Lines, which pleaded guilty to a charge under the Maritime Transport Act in early 2018, to pay compensation.
That compensation includes an emotional harm repayment of $110,000, reparation of $250,000 for loss of earnings, repatriation costs of US $10,500, and a fine of $15,000.
The decision noted that before his death, Navales supported his family, including his intellectually disabled sibling, his sick mother and his daughter, who is now being raised by his sister in Cebu.
His mother was "shocked and hurt" over her son's death.
Navales was a "responsible man, a generous son, a good brother and a loving father".
The court heard he was working hard to get the family out of poverty.
"I am used to having a son who will be there for me. Take care of me, making sure that I am safe and well, makes me miss him so much."
Judge Phillips assessed that financial loss to the family as follows:
Navales, who earned $US2000 a month, had a normal life working expectancy of 30 years - but that was discounted to 15 years.
Allowing for taxation and variables he arrived at a figure of $250,000 and considered that to be "an appropriate award for consequential loss".
The company had already paid more than $100,000 to the family, he noted.
It found the nitrogen cylinder burst at below its normal working pressure, as severe corrosion reduced the wall thickness to about 30 per cent of its original thickness.
"The failed cylinder and several others in the system were not fit for purpose, despite having been surveyed recently, and should not have been in service," Chief Investigator of Accidents, Captain Tim Burfoot, said in a statement.
The investigation into the incident also found there was urgent need for global standards for maintaining, inspecting, testing, and replacing the high pressure cylinders on board ships.
An interim report, published in May 2017, prompted warnings for the cruise industry over corroded cylinders, which could pose a "significant danger to seafarers and passengers".
Police at Port Chalmers after a cruise ship worker Allan Allarde Navales was killed.
TAIC have since made two additional recommendations: for the manufacturer to improve training for surveyors, and for Maritime New Zealand to raise internationally the implications for not having adequate minimum standards for the inspection, testing and rejection of pressured vessels that are part of stored energy systems.
THE INCIDENT
The cylinder which exploded and killed a crew member from the Emerald Princess while the cruise ship docked in Dunedin.
Following maintenance, the crew were re-pressurising the compressed nitrogen cylinders used for lowering life boats, when one of the bottles burst and fatally injured Navales, who was standing nearby.
Cruise ship Emerald Princess berthed in Akaroa Harbour earlier this year.
Remains of the burst cylinder were recovered, along with the other three cylinders from the same frame.
The top of the burst cylinder was never found, having possibly been ejected into the sea.
After the TAIC decision a Princess Cruises spokesman said the company would study in detail the report, and "as the report has noted, the company took immediate actions to ensure that such an accident could not happen again including the replacement of all nitrogen gas cylinders on the ship, a fleet wide inspection of cylinders and updated maintenance and servicing procedures".
"Our thoughts and prayers remain with the crew member's family who received a personal apology from the president of the company following this tragic accident."