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The Transport Accident Investigation Commission recommended that Maritime New Zealand ensure that rules are established requiring proper stability and buoyancy tests for all domestic commercial passenger ships, after a water taxi with seven people on board capsized with strong winds near Stewart Island in 2019..
The commission released its report on the rollover on Thursday morning.
The 7.5 meter commercial charter boat Henerata, operated by Rakiura Charters, rolled in rough seas around 1.20pm on September 12, 2019, after leaving the Freshwater River, Patterson Inlet, Stewart Island.
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Survivors: Five of the seven people rescued after a water taxi capsized near Stewart Island in 2019 were friends: Back: Kathy Hindmarsh and Elaine Crombie. Front: Jo Randall, Lynne Johnston, Tracey Osborne, all from the South Island.
Rescuers who responded to the call for help found the skipper and six passengers clinging to the overturned helmet. Later, four were taken to the hospital with suspected hypothermia.
The seven on board included the skipper, a Swedish tourist, and five friends from the South Island, Lynne Johnston, Tracey Osborne, Elaine Crombie, and Kathy Hindmarsh and Jo Randall.
The Henerata was being operated as a water taxi service from Freshwater Hut to Golden Bay via Paterson Inlet on Stewart Island / Rakiura, the report says.
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At approximately 1 pm, the Henerata departed from the Freshwater Hut landing and traveled up the Freshwater River.
At approximately 1:10 p.m., the ship entered Paterson Inlet and weather conditions deteriorated.
About 10 minutes later, the Henerata went down and sank.
The captain made an emergency radio transmission before the capsize.
The skipper and passengers held on to the capsized boat for about an hour before the rescue boats arrived.
The passengers and the skipper suffered from hypothermia and water ingestion to varying degrees.
Passengers who required hospital treatment were airlifted to Southland Hospital.
There were no fatalities.
The commission found that sea conditions were worse than the skipper expected when the Henerata entered rough and unpredictable seas.
The commission also found that the Henerata opened as a result of the rough and unpredictable seas, was overwhelmed and capsized.
The lack of stability information about the ship likely prevented Rakiura Charters from fully assessing the capsize risk, the report says.
The commission has made a recommendation for Maritime New Zealand to ensure that future maritime regulations require proper stability and buoyancy tests for all domestic commercial passenger ships.
The report also says that due to the absence of communication facilities in the Freshwater River area, Freshwater Hut’s passenger pickup services were rarely canceled.
Kavinda Herath / Things
Seven people were rescued and two airlifted to Southland Hospital after a water taxi capsized near Stewart Island following an emergency call in September 2019.
This likely translated into self-perceived pressure to operate the water taxi service.
Rakiura Charters had since modified the reservation information provided to passengers to notify them that cancellations were possible and that they should be prepared to stay overnight should they occur.
The Rakiura Charters shipping operator’s plan did not have defined climatic criteria to aid in the decision of the sailing pattern, nor did it assess the risk of capsizing.
The commission has made a recommendation to Rakiura Charters to address these issues, and as a result, the company had made several changes to its operations to improve safety in the event of a rollover, the report says.
Maritime operators, regulators, surveyors and boating associations can benefit from the findings in this report, it says.
What happened
As the water taxi exited the river and crossed the Freshwater Flats toward Dynamite Point, the skipper noticed that the wind speed had increased and the sea changed to steep, confusing waves.
A large wave lifted the stern of the ship and pushed the bow into a trough and the ship rolled on its starboard side and began to take on water around 1.20pm.
The skipper made an emergency call before opening the cabin door, with the water flooding the cabin and the boat capsizing.
The incoming water washed the skipper through a broken window and upon surfacing, none of the passengers were visible.
The skipper then dove under the capsized boat, opened the hatch and swam inside where five passengers were trapped under the hull in an air pocket contaminated with gasoline fumes.
The skipper helped the passengers through the hatch and out of the overturned hull.
When the skipper surfaced, three passengers were clinging to the side of the boat, but one passenger had turned away and was assisted by another passenger.
The sixth passenger was found clinging to the outboard motor in the stern.
Passengers moved to the more protected side of the capsized boat and held onto “cutouts” where the top was welded to the pontoon.
The radio operator who received the emergency call had attempted to contact the Rakiura Charters office and police, but was unable to do so due to a cellular network outage.
But the operator contacted the DOC at 1:28 p.m. and the DOC and other boats in the area jumped into action.
Starting at 1:43 p.m., the search and rescue operation was in charge of the police.
As the Henerata approached Dundas harbor, the skipper swam onto the boat and grabbed life jackets and flares, but was unable to reach the emergency locator beacon.
The Kaian ship approached the capsized ship, and at 2.19 p.m., Kaian’s skipper informed the Stewart Island marine radio operator that the capsized ship had been located and that there were seven people in the water.
Other boats arrived and the seven people were recovered from the water and taken to Golden Bay, where an ambulance, firefighters and a nurse were waiting.
Two had lost consciousness and the rest were hypothermic, four of whom were flown to Southland Hospital.
The crew of the ship Aurora righted the Henerata and towed it back to Golden Bay.
