Sentencing hearing begins for skipper involved in tour boat crash in Western Australia
A court in Western Australia has begun sentencing proceedings against a local tour boat captain who had pleaded guilty to a number of safety-related offences in relation to a maritime accident that left numerous people injured in 2022.
The Perth Magistrates Court reviewed footage of the events that occurred just prior to the crash of the tour boat Falls Express into a rock wall in Western Australia's Kimberley region shortly after 07:00 local time on May 27, 2022.
All 26 passengers and two crewmembers who were on the boat were safely rescued. Some of the occupants suffered significant injuries requiring surgery, though none of the injuries were life-threatening.
In May 2023, one year after the crash, charges were filed against boat skipper Edward James Whisson and boat operator Journey Beyond Adventures (trading under the name Horizontal Falls Seaplane Adventures) following an investigation and gathering and analysis of evidence conducted by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA).
On December 2, 2024, Mr Whisson pleaded guilty in the Magistrates Court in Perth to two charges, namely, failing to take reasonable care and not implementing and complying with the safety management system for the vessel and its operations.
Prosecutors said the crash occurred as the boat attempted to sail through a 7.5-metre wide gap within a rock wall despite the fact that the vessel had the wrong approach angle and the waters near the gap were rough and therefore unpredictable.
No details have been provided, though Mr Whisson and the boat operating company will likely be made to pay a significant fine when the sentences are handed down before the end of January.
Rishi Kashyap, Mr Whisson's defence counsel, has told ABC News that his client has decided he will no longer sail as a skipper on any passenger boat.
The Western Australia state government has meanwhile said that boats will be prohibited from entering the incident site in Kimberley beginning in 2026 for cultural and environmental reasons.
