A New Zealand dive centre has been ordered to pay NZ $70,000 (around £39,000) in compensation to the family of a Taiwanese woman who drowned after being left unsupervised on one of its Discover Scuba experiences.
Cathedral Cove Dive Ltd (CCDL) and its director Russell Cochrane pleaded guilty to three charges of failing to keep the victim safe.
The tourist was left to swim unsupervised out of an enclosed bay to the dive-site, wearing dive-gear provided by Cochrane. Her body was found hours later floating face-down in the water, with her air-tank empty. The fatality occurred in November 2014 at the resort of Hahei off the Coromandel Peninsula on North Island.
Hamilton District Court was told that the woman had been fitted with an oversized BC that would have pushed her forward and made it difficult for her to lift her head out of the water.
“The ill-fitted equipment compromised the victim’s ability to try and breathe when her air supply ran out and the lack of supervision meant she was able to become separated from the dive supervisor and leave the sheltered bay,” said WorkSafe Chief Inspector Keith Stewart. “It also meant that she could not immediately notify someone of her distress, nor be provided with assistance.”
Stewart described the death as entirely preventable, and said that as a professional diving operator “CCDL should have managed this obvious risk and been vigilant with their clients, especially groups such as Discover Scuba dive experiences, where the participants have no experience.
“Sadly a woman has lost her life and a family have lost a mother because of failures by the company and its director to meet their legal obligations.”
According to one report the judge initially set a fine of $66,000 and compensation of $125,000 (a total equivalent to around £106,000), describing this sum as proportional to the offence.
However, he decided to withhold the fine and reduce the compensation payment on the grounds that the Cathedral Cove dive centre would have been unable to pay the initial amount.
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