A Transport Accident Investigation Commission report into the fatal Enchanter fishing charter tragedy off North Cape last year has highlighted major failings in New Zealand's search and rescue, and marine survey sector.
Five Waikato men died, and five others including the skipper Lance Goodhew, survived the catastrophic capsize of the Enchanter on March 20 last year, as it headed home from the Three Kings Islands after five days of big game fishing.
The report has found the 16-metre vessel may have been in only about 10 metres of water when it was hit by a rogue wave.
"This accident raises significant safety issues about preparing for and increasing the chance of surviving such an accident," according to the Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) report.
It confirms what Newshub Investigates: The Enchanter tragedy documentary last year revealed about a lack of fuel in remote parts of the country, and how that delayed rescuers by almost five hours.
Cambridge widow Brenda Bright, whose 63 year old husband Richard was one of the five who died at sea, welcomes the report.
"I think these are lessons to be learnt and I think that's a positive that’s come out of this," she told Newshub. "That's what I am happy about, if we can learn something."
After reading the 100 page report, survivor Shay Ward from Te Awamuttu said: "I do think lives could've been saved if we'd got more people up there sooner."
In one of its most significant reports in almost a decade, TAIC has made nine recommendations to Maritime NZ and the Ministry of Transport.
Enchanter, based out of Mangonui, was in swells of 2.5 metres as it headed home from the Three Kings, but that dropped to 1.5 metres as the vessel got to North Cape.
According to the report, the "sky was clear, sea conditions had eased" and the vessel was on automatic pilot with skipper Goodhew navigating from the flybridge.
"The skipper noticed, in the fading light, the wall of water about to meet with the vessel from the port side... the wave that struck the vessel had sufficient energy to roll it immediately on its side with sufficient force to implode the windows and structure forming the main saloon."
In Newshub Investigates: The Enchanter tragedy documentary, survivor Shay Ward of Te Awamutu described it as a "giant 10-metre wave" that blew off the main cabin and flybridge.
While the commission found "no evidence of any mechanical or equipment failure" and suggested sea conditions were "well within the capabilities of the vessel" - it concluded Enchanter's stability and structural resilience were tested to the limit in shallower waters where steep breaking waves are more likely to capsize.
"The skipper advised the commission the accident happened NNE of the awash rock near Murimotu Island in about 50 metres of water... the commission has reached a different conclusion… [based on] EIRB (emergency position-indicating radio beacon) data and drift modelling."
When the wave hit, nine of the group survived the initial capsize.
Jayde Cook and Shay Ward clung to the upturned hull. Ben Stinson, deckhand Kobe O'Neill and skipper Goodhew scrambled up on the flybridge.
O'Neill recalled it "was like a bloody miracle" when an EPIRB washed up beside them and they were able to alert the Rescue Coordination Centre in Wellington at 8:17pm, half an hour after Enchanter's capsize.
"The failure of the EPIRB to automatically activate highlights the importance of having multiple means of raising the alarm. Personal locator beacons are relatively inexpensive and… may well save lives," the report said.
While Mark Sanders, Richard Bright, Mike Lovett and Geoff Allen were in the water, 41-year-old Mark Walker, from Cambridge was trapped in his bunk.
The commission found it is likely he "would have had a better chance of survival if the superstructure remained intact".
Goodhew and his company, who are currently before the courts on three charges, have not responded to Newshub about the TAIC findings.
His company, Enchanter Fishing, has pleaded not guilty to two charges, one under section 48 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 and one under section 67B of the Maritime Transport Act 1994. Goodhew's charge relates to the route he took around North Cape, allegedly exposing individuals to the risk of death or serious injury.
TAIC chief commissioner Jane Meares and chief investigator Naveen Kozhuppakalam said a key safety issue was the inaccessibility of lifejackets, which were stored in the front cabin.
Enchanter had four life buoys and all were required by law to have retro-reflective tape, two didn't and two had remnants "so deteriorated as to be ineffective"
The commission recommends life jackets should be stowed in "more accessible" locations.
It wants Maritime NZ to better monitor those surveying vessels and implement a formal system that notifies marine surveyors of changes to rules for the construction, maintenance and surveying of vessels.
The commission also recommends all commercial vessels carrying passengers outside inshore limits be fitted with automatic tracking devices.
In a statement, Maritime NZ said it partially accepts these recommendations and will consider them further.
"We are undertaking work to further strengthen our approach to monitoring surveyors, and are currently out consulting on an increase to our capacity to support this," said Maritime NZ director Kirstie Hewlett.
Maritime NZ is also considering the recommendation around requirements for automated identification systems (AIS).
However, Hewlett said it's a matter of priorities, and ultimately it's up to ministers to approve new rules.
Overhaul of rescue training
Maritime New Zealand's Rescue Coordination Centre, which received the EPIRB alert at 8:17pm, took an hour to task the Northern Rescue Helicopter crew.
The TAIC said if they'd been responding to air ambulance work the helicopter would have been in the air within 20 minutes, but it took 85 minutes to transition it to search and rescue (SAR) mode with the appropriate winches.
While the crew are praised for saving the lives of Ward, Cook, Stinson, O'Neill and the skipper, TAIC is critical of New Zealand's preparedness in general.
"The current NZ search and rescue system does not ensure that readily available, appropriately equipped and crewed, air resources will be available for future SAR operations, particularly in remote areas."
It said the potential consequence of this is the failure to respond to a major accident in a remote location and recommends the Ministry of Transport explore "the possibility of dedicated SAR aircraft in NZ fitted with the right equipment and crew" rather than SAR operators for whom the majority of their work is air ambulance duties.
All three rescue helicopters assigned, encountered issues assembling a complete crew with sufficient experience for the high-risk task.
"There were consequential delays."
Ward told Newshub "the training of the guys was fantastic, what they did was incredible. But having to swap equipment on the machinery is all delayed time, we could work on things like that".
The TAIC also wants the Ministry of Transport to work with SAR operators to introduce a joint training programme "to ensure that they work to the same framework and use the same terminology as coordinating authorities".
Changes to fuel storage logistics
After almost four and a half hours in the ocean, and after a fuel stop at Kaitaia, the Northern Rescue Helicopter crew rescued Stinson, O'Neill and Goodhew first, taking them to a SAR land base set up at Te Hapua.
The helicopter returned for Ward and Cook who were taken to Kaitaia Hospital, where the helicopter was unable to refuel as the bowser was empty.
In the TAIC report, it's revealed 29 phone calls were made by the Rescue Coordination Centre to source fuel, but those calls did not start until after midnight. The Auckland Westpac Rescue Helicopter also had to abandon its search after one hour and 25 minutes, because it too ran out of fuel.
"The lack of available fuel in the region resulted in a four-and-a-half hour period where helicopters were unable to search for the remaining five people in the water."
Ward believes "for fires, tsunamis, for whatever emergencies - that fuel needs to be up there", he said. "Especially for a remote area like Northland."
Bright, Allen, Sanders and Lovett's bodies were found over the coming days. Injuries and pre-existing medical conditions "likely contributed to earlier swim failure, something a life jacket would have helped prevent".
Meares and Kozhuppakalam said the "Secretary for Transport should work with providers of SAR air assets to identify opportunities for caching fuel in remote areas and to establish a database of stored fuel and supply logistics".
The Associate Minister of Transport Damien O'Connor says he's been advised both the Ministry of Transport and Maritime NZ are carefully considering the recommendations so a tragedy like this can't happen again.
