By DIVE Staff
A newlywed couple who were snorkelling in Hawaii is suing tour operator Sail Maui for ‘abandoning’ them in the water during the trip in September 2021.
Elizabeth Webster and Alexander Burckle were snorkelling off the island of Lanai, near Maui, on 23 September 2021, when they got into difficulties as the sea conditions turned rough.
Despite signalling to the tour boat that they were in distress, the crew failed to notice and, due to an incomplete headcount, departed the area leaving them in the water.
In filing the lawsuit, lawyers for Ms Webster and Mr Burckle said that the tour operator had failed in its duty of care to its customers, having failed to give an exact time of how long the boat would remain at the snorkelling site, nor provide advice on how and when to return to the boat, or what to do in case of an emergency.
After spending almost an hour in the water, the sea – which had been calm when they arrived – had turned rough, making it difficult to swim back to the boat. Seeing that their boat was leaving the area, the couple decided to swim for shore.
‘The plaintiffs realised the vessel had left them and was not coming back for them,’ said the court filing. ‘They decided that their only option for survival at that point was to return to shore.
‘They feared they were going to die.’
According to the couple’s lawyer, Jared Washkowitz, the crew made three headcounts before departing the area.
‘Our facts show that they did a headcount, came up two short, then they did another headcount, came up two short,’ he said.
A guest on board the trip said that the headcounts were ‘disorganised’ as ‘everybody kept moving, so they easily got missed.’
The third headcount returned the correct number of guests, and the crew gave the order to depart for the boat’s next scheduled location.
Ms Webster and Mr Burckle are suing Sail Maui for $5m (£4.2m) for damages and emotional distress.
