An interim Court of Inquiry report has found the HMSNZ Manawanui’s sinking was caused by a series of human errors.

The navy vessel went down nearly two months ago after hitting a reef during a survey of the Samoan coast.

The report found the crew had failed to turn off the ship’s auto-pilot when supposed too, but as they tried to slow it down, they accelerated into the reef, and wasn’t until 10 minutes later when autopilot was switched off that they regained control.

Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper joined Heather du Plessis-Allan.

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