The skipper of a boat who was charged following a collision with a ferry in the Bay of Islands that critically injured the ferry’s skipper, has pleaded guilty to a charge laid by Maritime New Zealand.

James Thomson appeared at the Auckland District Court on Monday where he admitted a charge of operating a vessel in a manner which caused unnecessary danger or risk to people or property, his lawyer Honor Lanham confirmed to Stuff.

Lanham also confirmed name suppression for her client had now lapsed.

‘Waitere' was the Faulkner Bros' ferry which plied between Tauranga's Coronation Pier off the end of Wharf Street and Mount Maunganui's Salisbury Wharf. She was built in Picton 1944 especially for the job. Read more here.

The Waitere, also known as Russell’s Blue Ferry – was badly damaged and sank in April 2023 after a collision with a recreational power boat.

The crash critically injured 77-year-old ferry skipper Bill Elliott and an investigation was then launched by Maritime NZ.

Some of the ferry’s passengers also suffered lesser injuries.

Elliott had never been in a crash in the 40-plus years he had been a skipper, his wife Lois Elliott previously said.

Maritime NZ’s Deputy Chief Executive Regulatory Operations, Deb Despard previously said the skipper of the power boat had been charged following that investigation.

"Investigators carried out interviews, examined the scene, reviewed documents and gathered other relevant evidence connected to the incident.“

- Catrin Owen/Stuff.