French cruise company Compagnie du Ponant has been fined NZD 70,000 ($46,244) after one of its ships went aground off New Zealand last year.

In addition, the ship’s captain, French citizen Regis Daumesnil, was fined NZD 30,000 for his part in the grounding.

The incident involving the 11,000-gt L’Austral (built 2011) took place in the remote New Zealand Subantarctic islands in January 2017.