New Zealand Navy bans booze on board

The Royal New Zealand Navy has banned sailors from drinking alcohol on board, bringing an end to the age-old dilemma of what to do with a drunken sailor.

In a message to sailors on Wednesday, Chief of Navy Rear Admiral Jack Steer told sailors that alcohol would no longer be permitted on board while ships were at sea or anchored.

The ban follows bad behaviour by a number of intoxicated sailors, as reported by The Australian. 

He said: “I no longer want to come into work on Monday and find out that one of you has been arrested doing something stupid while drunk.”

‘While most people in the navy have a healthy attitude towards alcohol there are a small number of people who are taking things too far, getting drunk and doing stupid things like getting into fights, drink driving and acting inappropriately around members of the public. This has to stop.”

Recent incidents include a sailor who allegedly stole a police car and took it for a joyride around Auckland’s North Shore in December 2012.

Another incident saw Petty Officer Norman Anderson drink up to 17 beers and cycle away from his ship while he was supposed to be on guard duty in June 2011 – a stunt which saw him jailed for 21 days.

The changes will also see duty-free banned at sea, alcohol-related gifts at prize-givings banned and the Devonport navy base stripped of any alcohol advertising.

Calling it an attempt to change the drinking culture of the Navy, Rear Admiral Steer said: “You all are adults, and I trust you to have a couple of drinks after work and enjoy a night out. But, as the old saying goes, it’s not that we’re drinking it’s how we’re drinking.”

The NZ Navy banned a mid-day tot of rum in 1990 to prevent sailors from being drunk at work.