Enchanter trial: Lawyers close case asking, ‘Would a reasonable mariner have left?’

The trial of Enchanter skipper Lance Goodhew has concluded in the Whangārei District Court. Photo / Michael Craig

• Counsel for Maritime New Zealand and Lance Goodhew closed their cases today after a four-week judge-alone trial.
• Goodhew faces a single charge of breaching his duties as a worker on the fishing boat Enchanter and, in doing so, exposing individuals to a risk of death or serious injury.
• The Enchanter was hired by a group of friends for a game fishing trip to the Three Kings Islands in March 2022.
• The boat capsized at North Cape, killing Geoffrey James Allen, 72, Michael Patrick Lovett, 72, Richard Eldon Bright, 63, Mark Keith Walker, 41, and Mark Kenneth Sanders, 43.

After four weeks of emotional testimonies from survivors of the deadly Enchanter capsize and expert weather analyses from around the world, the trial into the fishing boat tragedy has concluded.

Yet, for all the detailed technical evidence, the trial has also highlighted the unpredictable nature of the sea and the inability to foresee disaster.

Lance Goodhew, 59, of Coopers Beach, faced accusations of failing his responsibilities as a skipper, directly linked to the deaths of five men on his boat.

The men had spent three days fishing at the Three Kings Islands before heading south to North Cape, where a 10-metre rogue wave capsized their boat on March 20, 2022.

Maritime New Zealand (MNZ) argued the sea conditions were too dangerous for Goodhew to navigate because a significant weather front had passed through overnight.

The five victims of The Enchanter capsize were Mike Lovett, Mark Sanders, Richard Bright, Mark Walker and Geoffrey Allen.

Sam McMullan presented MNZ’s case over the first two weeks, calling survivors, local fishermen and weather experts to testify.

His argument focused on two critical points: the decision to leave the Three Kings and how Goodhew travelled around North Cape too close to the shore.

As the four-week trial progressed, weather experts gave evidence about the state of the sea around North Cape. They claimed rogue waves could occur anywhere, anytime and at any sea level.

“Whether Goodhew was one mile from the coast or three miles from the coast might not have made a great deal of difference in terms of mitigating the risk of encountering a rogue wave,” McMullan said at the start of his closing argument.

“So the focus for my submission is the decision to leave the Three Kings at 1.30 in the afternoon on the 20th of March.”

Sam McMullan closed the case for Maritime NZ saying Goodhew should not have left the Three Kings. Photo / Michael Craig

McMullan said Goodhew had a vast knowledge of seafaring and access to multiple sources of information but chose to risk leaving the Three Kings when he should have stayed put.

“Taking that information into account, Maritime New Zealand says no reasonable mariner would have made the decision Mr Goodhew did.

“His decision exposed passengers to the risk of death or serious injury.”

On the day of departure, MetService issued a gale warning predicting rough seas, strong winds and poor visibility. However, Goodhew relied on the PredictWind app, criticised during the trial for its infrequent 12-hourly updates.

“He failed to adequately reconcile conflicts between the available forecasts, preferring the more, what prosecution says, optimistic one when there was not sufficient information included to doubt its accuracy,” McMullan said.

The data from PredictWind on March 20 could not be retrieved and evidence submitted to the trial comprised only models of possibility.

McMullan acknowledged the models depicted a decrease in wind but, from looking out the window, the situation would have appeared otherwise.

Two videos were produced of a sea described by the prosecution as in a “confused and gnarly state”. McMullan said there was conflicting evidence given by survivor Ben Stinson, who said the fishermen were free to move around the boat and drink throughout the journey back.

However, Goodhew said he allowed passengers to have a beer and move around the boat only after 5pm, when the weather eased.

Further conflicting evidence came from Annette Hall, a radio operator for the Far North Coastguard.

She initially stated Goodhew had messaged her about 7pm describing the conditions as “gnarly”.

However, during her testimony, she was unable to recall what he meant by “gnarly”.

Fletcher Pilditch, KC, said Goodhew had taken all reasonable steps but ultimately could not control the nature of the sea. Photo / Michael Craig

‘It’s not always predictable’

Goodhew’s lawyer, Fletcher Pildtich, KC, submitted the prosecution was driven by misguided criminal liability for an event beyond Goodhew’s control.

Pilditch reflected on his cross-examination of experienced master mariner Bryan O’Kane, who relayed the base of the defence case in a few words.

“It’s the nature of the industry ... You get caught out absolutely because, at a level, you can’t tame the ocean. It’s not always predictable,” Pilditch recalled O’Kane saying.

The nature of the sea was a core element that could not be overlooked in the tragic outcome, Pilditch said.

“No one can control and influence the sea. It is unpredictable.

“No matter what the developments, no matter what the technology, no matter what stage it is, effectively as human beings we are breached by the evolution of our interaction with the ocean.

“There are elements which simply cannot be known or predicted. That is a consequence of being at sea and our submission at the outset.”

He submitted that the prosecution experts were opinion-based and no one could be 100 per cent certain what the conditions were at 1.30pm, when Goodhew left the Three Kings.

“The court has no measure of what [the] prosecution say the Enchanter could safely operate in and what it could not safely operate in.”

The evidence around rogue waves was complex and a product of the rare and unpredictable focus of energy that might occur when a sea was becoming more uniform, he said.

Goodhew and other mariners often referred to the weather as being in one of three stages: flat, “a bit gnarly” or “getting our a*** handed to us”.

When Goodhew said the conditions were “a bit gnarly”, that was not a reference to the weather being extreme.

“This wave wasn’t part of the normal distribution of waves, it was a rogue wave which, we all accept, they’re unpredictable.”

Pilditch acknowledged the survivors’ experience as giving breath to the case and the “real measure” of what happened.

Judge Philip Rzepecky has reserved his decision until later in the year.

Shannon Pitman is a Whangārei-based reporter for Open Justice covering courts in the Te Tai Tokerau region. She is of Ngāpuhi/Ngāti Pūkenga descent and has worked in digital media for the past five years. She joined NZME in 2023.