Editorial: Sea drama a reminder for us all

The charter boat ablaze in Whakatane.

The charter boat which burned off Whakatane is a fiery reminder of the challenges associated with operating a passenger vessel on the water.

The Whakatane-based Pee Jay 5 caught fire about a kilometre off the Eastern Bay of Plenty town yesterday. There were about 50 passengers and seven crew on board - all disembarked safely.

On land it's easy - fire in the engine bay? Stop the bus, and get everyone off.

On the water, help can be a long, long way away.

But yesterday, that call for help was answered by the Whakatane Coastguard who led the passenger retrieval.

The drama played out in front of thousands - a web camera operated by the Whakatane Coastguard clearly showed the burning vessel in rough seas, anchored perhaps 1km off the town's notorious bar.

Its fiery orange glow on a grey eastern Bay of Plenty day was the only hint that the webcam's footage was colour. It was a rough day off Whakatane - indeed off much of the North Island - and the webcam footage became greyer and greyer as the weather closed in, and the Pee Jay continued to smoke at anchor well away from the bar.

The post mortem is under way, thankfully not into human lives but into the cause of the fire which looks to have wrecked the charter boat that was on a trip home from White Island.

Anyone with an affinity with the sea will spare more than just a thought for the people who survived the fire. Especially those involved in our region's growing tourism charter sector.

It may have happened about 340km away but for many Northlanders, the drama was very close to home.