2 Jul 2010

Transpower lays its cards on the cable

5:47 pm on 2 July 2010

The national grid operator Transpower is appealing to boaties to keep well away from the Cook Strait cable.

It's reminding them that fishing and diving is prohibited in a zone either side of the cable, which provides up to 40% of the North Island's electricity load.

Transpower's warning follows the conviction of a man whose runabout drifted into the exclusion zone while he was fishing and a colleague was diving for crayfish.

He was fined $2000 and ordered to pay court costs of $130, but could have been penalised anything up to $250,000.

While the cable was unharmed in the incident, Transpower says, it could easily have turned out differently.