Witnesses of a collision between two boats in the Bay of Islands have described watching in horror as an eight-metre launch hurtled towards the ferry they were on.
Others described the launch involved in Thursday’s collision with the Paihia-Russell ferry travelling at high speed, with nobody visible at the wheel.
The 77-year-old skipper of the Blue Ferry is in Middlemore Hospital after suffering critical injuries.
One of the first responders was the skipper of the Happy Ferry, Captain Jeff Crooks. He described the scene as a “bomb site”.
It was a close call for passengers on the Blue Ferry, including Robyn Bregman. She and her husband were taking two young grandsons from Russell to Paihia. She told Checkpoint they watched in horror for about a minute as the 8m launch hurtled towards them.
“Could not see anyone at the helm of that boat, but that doesn’t mean there wasn’t someone there. It had two 300-horsepower motors on the back and it was full, fast. And he just don’t swerve, he didn’t slow down, didn’t put the throttle down. He just ran straight into the front of the ferry.
“The hit point was where the skipper was. Right under the skipper and the motor.”
Bregman thought she saw people thrown into the water or jumping in the water.
“The guy that hit us... He turned his boat around and was going away. I don’t know if he was something like that on purpose or not. But we were just yelling at him to get the people in the water. He didn’t seem like he was going to do that without us asking him to do it.”
Another witness, Rosie Morrow, was travelling on the Happy Ferry from Paihia to Russell. Her boat, skippered by Captain Jeff Crooks, rescued the Blue Ferry passengers before it sank.
“They must have been going very fast, because I think what happened was they hit it and went up, onto the ferry.
“I’m not sure what happened. There was only a man and his daughter as far as I’m aware, onboard.”
Elliot Bexon is the operations manager for Flying Kiwi Parasail. He and colleague Rich de Rosa were taking two customers at the time of the collision.
Passengers on the stricken Blue Ferry clamber over wreckage to the safety of the Happy Ferry while others tend to the injured skipper. Photo / Elliot Bexon
He told Checkpoint it was lucky the boat - the eight-metre ‘Boston Whaler’ - hit the strongest part of the Blue Ferry, not the back, where most passengers were sitting.
“It’s pretty catastrophic damage... There wasn’t too much panic which was good.
“A lot on the ferry had obviously comforted each other and helped each other. The focus was obviously on the injury, the skipper.
Local yachtie Michael Beckett was angry to see the damage that had been done.
“There’s been bad boating around here for a long, long time. There’s rules and regulations which people should follow. And if they’re not, they should eventually be picked up. It just hasn’t been happening. It’s come back and hit our Bill - the victim in all this.
“Five knots within 200m of the shore, 50m of another boat, 200m of another structure, and rules to give way to your right - starboard - and to turn to starboard when you’ve got another head-on boat.
“Those aren’t being followed because people... They know the rules, it’s plain as day, stickers on your boat.
“But some people just don’t care because they’re in a rush and it just turns to horror.”
The collision means the Russell to Paihia route will now be serviced by two remaining ferries. Bexon was lamenting the loss of the area’s last wooden ferry.
“Everybody knows it. Nobody here that doesn’t know the Blue Ferry, nobody here that doesn’t know Bill. It’s just a part of history that is now unfortunately at the bottom of the bay. With any luck, it can be refloated.”
Maritime NZ is not commenting while the investigation is under way. Staff spent today at the Opua Marina looking at the Boston Whaler boat involved in the collision. Police are appealing for witnesses who may have seen a boat being driven erratically before yesterday’s collision.
They’re asking people to call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
