Mother watched Whakatane boat fire grow while daughter onboard

Tuesday, 19 January 2016

Divers could be sent down to the wreck of the PeeJay V as part of an investigation into the tourist vessel which caught fire off the shores of Whakatane with 60 people onboard.

Transport Accident Investigation Commission will look into what caused the blaze on the boat when the trouble at sea occurred on Monday afternoon.

The commission's lead investigator into the matter, Rob Thompson, says although the fire began in the middle area of the boat it was only speculation at this stage as to the cause.

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Speaking to media on Wednesday, Thompson said: 'With a boat there are many different things that can start a fire or provide fuel for a fire.'

'And there are several sources of ignition in the engine room.'

He said depending on what questions were thrown up by the investigation, the commission might send divers down to the wreck or consider a salvage operation.

'Diving is generally cheaper. It's possible there's nothing to be gained by going to the wreckage.'

The commission had yet to speak to passengers, Thompson says, but had their contact details.

He says 'survivability' is a key feature of the investigation - looking at crew systems, escape mechanisms and access to life jackets and life rafts.

At this stage no issues with White Island tours has been identified.

'Their licences and certificates seemed to be in order. It's certainly a good outcome that there were no fatalities.'

Thompson says the investigation would take several months. 

Survivors jump from burning boat

Elaine Rogocki, 60, described the terror as she waited for her 33-year-old daughter, who couldn't swim well, to be rescued from the burning PeeJay V. 

There weren't enough lifejackets to go round, so her daughter had to wait for one to be recycled, the UK tourist said after all passengers and crew were safely rescued from the Bay of Plenty tourist boat.

'It was so frightening. I had to jump in with a lifejacket on before Nina, as there weren't enough and she can't swim too well, so she had to wait till last and one was returned to use,' she said to friends on social media on Monday afternoon.

All 60 people onboard - 53 passengers and seven crew - were rescued safely after the PeeJay V caught fire about a kilometre from the Whakatane shore. It was returning from a tour of the White Island volcano when the fire broke out on the double-decker boat about 3.45pm.

'I had to watch the boat fire get bigger while she was still on it. Then [she] puked all over the rescue boat from being seasick.

'The anguish was horrendous while not knowing what happened to her.'

Last passenger to leave

Nina Rogocki was one of the last ones off the boat.

'It was pretty bad. I was one of the last off the boat and pretty much had flames in my face.' 

But the pair said it had been a great day out at White Island before the dramatic rescue. 

They were forced to leave all of their belongings on the boat, losing phones, cameras and travel gear, but were covered by insurance. 

'We are both OK, just a bit shocked and shook up after having to jump into the water, which was a horrific thing to have to do, and which was very scary.'

She praised the efforts of the crew working to make sure everyone was safe. She said the crew would not allow her to jump into the water unaided, without a life jacket.

'The rescue team have done a fantastic job and we are safe.'

Fire spread quickly

Passengers Gill and Jim Cameron, also from the UK, told the NZ Herald the alarm began sounding, forcing the evacuation of the upper deck cabin.

'But the fire rapidly spread from the engine room, and then it spread up into the upper superstructure and within minutes the flames were visible at the back of the boat.

'We didn't take an account of time, but it seemed very, very fast.'

Jim Cameron could smell the fuel or oil burning. 

'Then there was toxic fumes coming from the superstructure [cabin]. Once the cabin started to burn, it was plastic burning, too.'

Passengers on the upper deck were fortunate to get lifejackets - those stored on the lower level were already engulfed in flames.

One of the crew members reportedly went into the cabin filling with smoke to retrieve more lifejackets. 

A 47-year-old woman from South Australia, a 23-year-old woman and a 36-year-old man, both from Ohope, were taken to hospital with injuries. 

Only the Ohope man remained in Whakatane Hospital on Tuesday. He was in a stable condition in a ward, Bay of Plenty District Health Board communications manager Diana Marriott said.

Engine room speculation

The fire is believed to have ignited in the engine room, but exactly what caused it is still being investigated by Maritime NZ and Transport Accident Investigation Commission, White Island Tours marketing manager Patrick O'Sullivan said on Tuesday.

'At this stage, that is what is thought, but we can't speculate on anything to do with the fire. We are leaving that fully up to the investigation team to determine when and where.'

O'Sullivan said there were 100 to 120 lifejackets onboard the boat for a maximum 90 passengers and five crew.

'We never have that many onboard.

'As far as we know, because of the rapid emission of smoke, there were some locations where jackets were stored that people and crew could not get to.

'There was a mix of people that did and didn't have lifejackets on the bow - they were all moved on to the bow.'

Standard practice is to evacuate from the bow into the water and on to inflatable boats. In some cases, extra lifejackets were used from other vessels, he said.

'The crew were on hand at all times, some manning the inflatables and other crew on the bow and the skipper was on the upper deck with a handful of passengers.

'They did an amazing job. We are so grateful for our crew. This was one scenario and being close to shore it involved sending boats out.'

The boat carries one 5.3-metre inflatable boat used in transfers to and from White Island.

'That moved passengers from PeeJay V on to waiting boats.'

Two other boats owned by White Island Tours were onsite in minutes, he said.

'In 26 years of operation, this is the first incident we have had. We will resume operations as soon as we can. At this stage we haven't been told to desist.'

The tour operator would not have been able to operate under weather conditions on Tuesday with a heavy rain warning

Some passengers were given accommodation overnight after losing items such as rental car keys in the blaze.

'We have the motel here, so we were able to accommodate people as they needed to be.'

The fire broke out at 3.45pm on Monday. Boat crew issued a mayday call at 4pm, advising everyone was abandoning the vessel. Two hours later, the boat had sunk. 

A general call went out for boats to assist and there was an immediate response from local charter operators. Four large vessels and the Coastguard rescue boat were quickly on the scene.

By this time, the boat had anchored up, which indicated crew had made a plan, said fisherman Kane Bourke, who was fishing at White Island when he saw black smoke on the horizon. 

Passengers and crew were rescued from the sea and transported to a makeshift triage centre at the Whakatane Wharf.

It was understood the three taken to hospital were not seriously injured but suffered smoke inhalation and minor injury from jumping from the boat.