4 Navy Officers plead guilty to charges in relation to the grounding of the RFNS Kiro

The four Fiji Navy officers who are facing charges in relation to the grounding of the naval ship, RFNS Kiro on Belcher Reef on 14th July 2016, have pleaded guilty to their charges in the General Court Martial.

Captain of the vessel, Lt Samuela Cikaitoga has been charged with three counts of neglecting to perform a duty contrary to the Army Act 1955. According to the charge sheet, Cikaitoga while holding the appointment of Commanding Officer on board RFNS Kiro, gave  approval to the navigator to go ahead with the initial plan without paying attention to the requirements of regulation on safety clearance for coastal navigation. It states that Cikaitoga  failed to fill his order book which his duty required him to do.

The charge sheet also states that Cikaitoga failed to train the navigation officer, Mike Brown to be familiar with the ship’s navigation equipment.

Mike Brown is also charged with neglecting to perform his duty contrary to the Army Act 1955. The charge sheet states that Brown while holding the appointment of navigation officer on board RFNS Kiro, neglected to alter its course to avoid grounding the vessel on Belcher Reef.

Lt Ben Salacakau is charged with neglecting to perform his duty. It states that Salacakau while being the Executive Officer onboard RFNS Kiro, failed to ensure that the vessel’s night order was handed to the Commanding Officer as his duty as the most senior watch keeper prior to briefing the rest of the officers of the watch on board.

Lt Saula Tuilevuka is also facing the charge of neglecting his duty. According to the charge sheet, Tuilevuka had neglected to submit a report to the Navy Headquarters on the operational sea check that was conducted on RFNS Kiro.

They pleaded guilty when the charges were read to them at Queen Elizabeth Barracks earlier today.

President of the General Court Martial, retired Navy Commander, Netani Sukanaivalu has adjourned the case to this Thursday for the prosecution to provide the summary of facts.

Former judge of the High Court, Lieutenant Colonel Jiten Singh is the Judge Advocate.