New Zealand frees 2 Filipino seafarers jailed for cargo ship accident

Cargo ship ‘Rena’ is shown grounded after it ploughed into a reef last October 5, releasing an oil slick that killed thousands of sea birds and fouled beaches in the North Island’s pristine Bay of Plenty in New Zealand. AFP FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—The Filipino captain and second officer of a cargo ship that ran aground off New Zealand in 2011 have been expelled from the South Pacific country after serving half of their prison terms.

New Zealand media reports said Captain Mauro Balomaga and Leonil Relon of the ill-fasted MV Rena were freed Wednesday from the Waikeria Prison and left for the Philippines Thursday morning.

At press time, however, the Bureau of Immigration and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration had not confirmed if Balomaga and Relon had arrived in Manila.

Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman Raul Hernandez, quoting the Philippine Embassy in Wellington, said that the pair, after their release, spoke with embassy officials but did not provide their flight details.

“The two officers told our embassy that they were well-treated and did not encounter any difficulties. They also thanked the embassy for the assistance and support extended to them as well as the numerous Filipinos who reached out to them,” Hernandez said in a text message to the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

Media reports quoted Balomaga and Relon’s lawyer Paul Mabey saying the two were eager to be reunited with their families and that they might get their old jobs back.

Balomaga and Relon were each sentenced to seven months in prison last May after they pleaded guilty to the charges of operating a ship dangerously, being officers of a vessel that released contaminating materials into a coastal area, and altering ship documents after the Rena crashed into Astrolabe Reef near the port city of Tauranga in New Zealand’s North Island on October 5, 2011.

The two, however, were only jailed about three and a half months. Under New Zealand’s parole law, anyone sentenced to be imprisoned two years or less must be released after serving half of their sentence.

The shipwreck resulted in the spilling of hundreds of tons of oil; thousands of seabirds were also killed. The coastal cleanup took months to be completed while the damaged marine environment has yet to recover.