Maritime NZ has revealed that a multi-agency debrief following the Enchanter tragedy found the issue of fuel for rescuers should have been considered a lot earlier.
Wednesday night's documentary on Three, called Newshub Investigates: The Enchanter Tragedy, found a lack of aviation fuel in the Far North and delays in getting a trailer up to the remote scene near North Cape hampered the search for five missing men.
The bodies of Geoff Allen, 72, his son-in-law Mark "Skid" Walker, Richard Bright, 63, Mike Lovett, 72, and Mark "Sando" Sanders, 43, were all eventually recovered following the March tragedy.
Ben Stinson, Shay Ward, Jayde Cook, deckhand Kobe O'Neill, and the Enchanter's skipper Lance Goodhew survived when the 16.5-metre Enchanter was hit by a rogue wave on the return journey from Manawatāwhi / Three Kings Islands.
Skipper Goodhew has declined to comment while under investigation by Maritime New Zealand for taking clients out during a severe weather warning.
In Newshub Investigates: The Enchanter Tragedy, the survivors reveal how an EPIRB washed up on the crest of a wave half an hour after Enchanter's capsize, landing on the flybridge that O'Neill, Goodhew and Stinson were on.
"Holy shit, we've got to set this off," recalled Stinson.
The remarkable story has struck a chord with many of NZ Fishing's 88,000 Facebook members, according to the group's administrator Ben Chissell.
"The majority are saying they need to either check or upgrade their personal locator beacon and a lot of people were saying they needed to go out and buy one, so there'll be a lot purchased in the coming days by the looks."
Herd tester Ward from Te Awamutu told AM he actually had his own personal locator beacon on the boat, but the weather didn't warrant him using it.
He's now urging "other people out there to wear your EPIRB always on you somewhere, somehow".
He and contract supervisor Cook managed to get up on the upturned hull. The boat's skipper Goodhew, his deckhand and Stinson pulled an unconscious 72-year-old Mike Lovett up on the flybridge.
Cambridge men Allen and publican Bright with 43-year-old Sanders floated off in flotsam and debris. They didn't survive.
Mark "Skid" Walker, Allen's son-in-law, was trapped under the water.
"Skiddy wasn't that lucky at all, he was still in the bed, it was terrible," said Cook.
Four hours after the Enchanter was hit, the first responders to reach the remote scene plucked O'Neill, Stinson and Goodhew off the flybridge.
That Northern Rescue Helicopter crew returned to get Cook and Ward within the hour, but in the months following the survivors had questions about the wider rescue operation and delays.
Documents reveal extent of fuel shortages
Documents obtained by Newshub from Maritime New Zealand under the Official Information Act show the Rescue Coordination Centre got an EPIRB alert at 8:18pm half an hour after Enchanter's capsize.
The RCC log shows the helicopter was tasked within 21 minutes but didn't take off until 10:05pm from Whangarei. Bad weather was a concern for all rescuers including the local Coastguard, who deemed it "too unsafe to respond".
The official RCC log also reveals at 12:13am the Rescue Coordination Centre advised the shore-based coordinator at Te Pua more fuel was needed for rescue helicopters.
It wasn't until 1 hour and 15 minutes later, the on-scene coordinator contacted a fuel contractor. There is a mention "the nearby DOC fuel has no pump".
But DOC has told Newshub it does not manage any fuel supplies in Northland and the supply discussed was likely referencing a fuel pump at Waitiki which is privately owned.
Meanwhile the Northern Rescue Helicopter was running "on the smell of an oily rag" by the time it got Ward and Cook back to Kaitaia Hospital at 1:30am. It was unable to resume the search for more potential survivors.
The Auckland Rescue Helicopter, also delayed in what Maritime NZ's document describes as a "significant weather event", had to abandon its search of the ocean after 1 hour and 25 minutes because it had no fuel.
The first fuel, driven up from Kerikeri, didn't arrive until 5:11am at Kaitaia. It took even longer to get to the remote scene, a 170km journey in bad weather.
"It takes time to organise, can you do better... Yes, we [can] always do better. And I think it's a valuable lesson," said Maritime NZ's deputy director of safety and response Nigel Clifford.
Clifford told Newshub a multi-agency debrief after the tragedy has identified fuel should be considered "as quickly as possible".
"We'd always support more availability of fuel but this is an incredibly rare event, and it is a significant logistical challenge to establish fuel dumps all over the place," he said.
Fuel dump sites have to be maintained and there needs to be a guarantee the fuel is safe to use with routine testing so there are "big logistics in keeping fuel anywhere", he said.
Associate Transport Minister Kieran McAnulty told Newshub he "understands the concerns around aviation fuel availability in the Far North, but it's not a widespread issue".
"When there are extended search and rescue operations NZSAR assist by organising additional fuel supplies if needed.
"We'll continue to work alongside NZSAR to ensure they're able to operate effectively."
The OIA document reveals cellphone challenges and "the clarity of information going backwards and forwards" were also at play.
The ocean gave up the bodies of Richard Bright, Mark Sanders, Mike Lovett, Mark Walker and his father-in-law Geoff Allen in the days following the Enchanter's demise.
"It's tragic, five men, five families you know," says Cook, who along with Ward, Stinson, and O'Neill is awaiting the official Maritime NZ and TAIC investigations along with a Coroner's inquest for their five mates.
The survivors say they still owe their lives to those "everyday Kiwi blokes being heroes" at Northern Rescue Helicopters who made it to North Cape for the daring night winch rescue.
They're now launching a fundraising campaign to buy ballistics helmets and other gear, priced at $5000 each, for the Whangarei-based helicopter crew.
To donate click here.
