Trial of Enchanter skipper opens
Lance Goodhew faces one remaining charge over fishing trip that killed 5 men
The alleged negligence of a skipper who reportedly chose to navigate through darkness and shallow water just after a significant weather system had passed is said to have contributed to the deaths of five passengers.
The long-awaited trial against Enchanter skipper Lance Goodhew began in the Whangārei District Court yesterday and two charges against his recreational fishing charter business were dropped.
He’s now facing a single charge laid by Maritime New Zealand of breaching his duties as a worker on the vessel and, in doing so, exposing individuals to a risk of death or serious injury. The charge carries a maximum penalty of a $150,000 fine.
The ill-fated journey embarked upon by a group of five friends, described as “the trip of a lifetime”, quickly turned into a nightmare.
Departing from Mangōnui on March 17, 2022, the Enchanter ventured 80km north to the Three Kings Islands for three days of big game fishing. But as the group headed for home on March 20, 2022, they met treacherous conditions following a significant weather system.
MetService had issued an “orange warning”, signalling rough weather with high winds and rain. Despite these warnings, Goodhew pressed on, navigating near North Cape where the Enchanter succumbed to a rogue 10-metre wave, capsizing the vessel.
The activation of an emergency beacon at 8pm marked the beginning of a rescue operation that ended with the loss of five lives.
The men who died were Geoffrey James Allen, 72, Michael Patrick Lovett, 72, Richard Eldon Bright, 63, and Mark Keith Walker, 41, all from Cambridge, and Mark Kenneth Sanders, 43, from Te Awamutu.
Judge Philip Rzepecky, presiding over the trial, solemnly acknowledged the gravity of the loss, extending his sympathies to the survivors and the families of those who perished.
Lead counsel for Maritime NZ Sam McMullan said the decisions Goodhew made over those days had catastrophic consequences.
“The Enchanter should never have been where it was. The weather was poor and a significant front was passing, the conditions were described as sloppy, gnarly and scruffy,” he said.
The case will hinge on the locations of the Three Kings Islands and North Cape.
The weather passing over the Three Kings had reportedly been so bad that multiple vessels in the area had anchored. But about 1.30pm on March 19, Goodhew decided to leave.
Goodhew described that day’s conditions as dark, with visibility between 20m to 50m in front of him, and in a depth of 50m of water, but MetOcean disagreed and would give evidence the water depth was likely less than that, McMullan said.
“He breached the act. It is his duty to positively take reasonable care. That is an encapsulation of what the case is about,” the prosecutor said.
Kobe O’Neill worked as a deckhand for Goodhew and gave evidence about the harrowing ordeal.
O’Neill said that on Saturday, March 19, with the vessel anchored at Little Bear Bay, they decided to fish in the bay the next morning then head to Princes Island and back to North Cape.
Video footage was played of the journey back to North Cape. When asked to describe his thoughts on the state of the sea, O’Neill responded, “one and a half to two metres”.
He clarified it was difficult to put a height on the waves because the sea was always changing.
When the wave hit, it came portside, and the vessel rolled instantly. “It was instant, half a second.”
O’Neill said after the windows blew out, they had two minutes to get out as water was pouring in. He struggled to get on the upside-down hull but as he did, he saw Mike Lovett floating face down in the water. He dived back in and held Lovett for two hours, trying his hardest to save him.
When the beacon floated past, he said, it took 15 minutes to activate the device as it refused to turn on, before a four-hour wait in the water for help.
“We played a few games to keep our minds off what had happened. I even asked for a pay rise.
“And then we just hoped they would come and pick us up.”