Police have charged the skipper of a boat who was arrested on Saturday while protesting against oil exploration off the East Cape of the North Island.
Elvis Teddy has been charged with operating a vessel in an unsafe manner under Section 65 of the Maritime Transport Act.
Police said on Saturday that three of four protest boats moved away from a survey ship belonging to Brazilian oil company Petrobras, but the fourth ignored safety warnings and deployed buoys and long-line fishing lines in the vessel's path.
Mr Teddy, the captain of Te Whanau a Apanui-owned boat San Pietro, was brought to shore on a naval patrol vessel on Saturday night and released on bail. He is due to appear in court in Tauranga on Friday.
His lawyer, Dayle Takitimu, plans to challenge police claims that her client acted dangerously.
She says the San Pietro was stationary and more than 1.5 nautical miles from the survey ship when it radioed the vessel with its position.
Ms Takitimu says as the Petrobras ship Orient Explorer was in motion it had to give way to the San Pietro under collision regulations.
The charge carries a maximum penalty of 12 months jail or $10,000 fine. Police are not ruling out laying further charges.
Two Petrobras survey vessels began working in the Raukumara Basin early in April, sparking protests by groups opposed to deep-sea drilling off the coast.
The company was awarded a permit in 2010 to explore 12,000 square kilometres of the basin for gas and oil.
