New Zealand's Defence Minister on Thursday publicly criticised online trolling of the female captain of a naval vessel that sunk at the weekend, saying while the cause of the incident was unknown, it had nothing to do with the captain’s gender.

Collins said she was appalled to see online trolling from "armchair admirals, people who will never have to make decisions which mean life or death for their subordinates". She ad

The Manawanui, the New Zealand Navy's specialist dive and hydrographic vessel, sank at a reef off the coast of Samoa that it was surveying.

Judith Collins said a "deeply concerning, misogynistic narrative" had been directed at Commander Gray and told one of her critics, a male truck driver from Melbourne, to stick to commenting about "driving trucks rather than driving ships".

New Zealand’s Defense Minister Judith Collins has decried what she called misogynistic online comments about the woman commander of a navy ship which ran aground, caught fire and sank off the coast of

New Zealand’s Defense Minister Judith Collins has decried what she called misogynistic online comments about the woman commander of a navy ship which ran aground, caught fire and sank off the coast of Samoa on Sunday.

New Zealand's defense minister issued stinging rebukes of what she said were “vile” and “misogynistic” online remarks by “armchair admirals” about the woman captain of a navy ship that ran aground, caught fire and sank off the coast of Samoa.

New Zealand's Defense Minister on Thursday publicly criticized online trolling of the female captain of a naval vessel that sunk at the weekend.