Although the weather reports of the previous days had announced that strong winds followed by a storm would surround the capital Wellington, at 8.40 am on 9 April the Wahine continued to steer . A weather report on April 8 said there were strong winds that would only get worse as the days went by. As storm warnings were normal for the Wahine, the report was overlooked and not taken seriously, what the crew didn't know was that Cyclone Giselle would collide with a southern front over Wellington Harbor creating the worst storm yet. never seen in New Zealand. to register. The distress signals were not only mistaken by the crew on board the ship but also by those on shore. Although these people are unable to predict the future by ignoring the warning signs and setting sail, they did not take into account the consequences they would face in less than 24 hours. This was just one of many mistakes made that caused this tragedy. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Annual inspections were carried out by the New Zealand Government's Department of the Navy to ensure that safety conditions on board the vessel were up to date. Claiming that all life jackets on board can fit both adults and children was their second mistake. Before the disaster three consecutive annual inspections had taken place in 1966, 1967 and 1968, after the disaster the reliability of the safety inspection laws was called into question as after the accident it was discovered that the cause of death of many children was in reality drowning caused by the oversized and impractical life jackets provided on board the ship. After this unfortunate number of deaths due to large life jackets, inspection laws were changed resulting in smaller, appropriately sized life jackets so that children were provided with safety equipment that would give them a chance of survival. This disaster also demonstrated to the Government that Wellington Port needed more facilities for water rescues. The old rescue boats and tugs used to help the Wahine were helpless because they were too old and not strong enough to make any progress in rescuing the Wahine. After the disaster a decision was made on rationing and Wellington upgraded all rescue equipment, purchasing numerous tugboats and a rescue boat for incidents such as this. Mooring fees were reduced to reduce costs and save money, due to this the flooding was greater on the boat which caused the vessel to list and then capsize due to instability. This Wahine disaster could have been prevented or at least reduced to wreckage and deaths if inspection laws and safety equipment had been efficient and effective. Since this incident New Zealand has learned many valuable lessons. Although in the previous days weather reports had announced that strong winds followed by a storm would surround the capital Wellington, at 8.40am on 9 April the Wahine continued to steer course. A weather report on April 8 said there were strong winds that would only get worse as the days went by. As storm warnings were normal for the Wahine, the report was overlooked and not taken seriously, what the crew did not know was that Cyclone Giselle would collide with a southern front over Wellington Harbor.