13 January 2026
Tracy Neal, Open Justice reporter
A Sealord fishing boat at sea (file image). Photo: RNZ / Allison Hossain
A solemn karakia marked the beginning of the
sentencing of a deep-sea skipper and his employer, after the death of a
fisherman at sea, a long way from home and far from help.
In the early hours of the longest night, on 21 June
2022, while working on board a Sealord vessel near the Chatham Islands, the
47-year-old died "undignified and alone" of peritonitis caused by a
perforated duodenal ulcer.
He had been unwell since coming out of his workstation
days earlier, but skipper Eru Puata didn't recognise the seriousness of the
man's condition, even after he twice asked for pain relief.
Puata told two crew members to "f*** off"
after they tried to alert him to the man's deteriorating condition.
Now he and his employer have been convicted and fined,
with the Sealord Group taking the lion's share of the penalty even though
culpability lay with Puata, a court heard today.
Counsel for the prosecutor, Maritime NZ, said it was
"entirely accepted" that Puata was a good man and a caring skipper
who made a bad mistake, but it was not a minor slip-up.
It was a single event made up of three components in
the course of one evening, but the apex of the failure was the point at which
Puata could have taken action but didn't, said lawyer for the prosecution, Ben
Finn.
Puata, 50, was found guilty on a charge under health
and safety at work legislation after a three-week, judge-alone trial in
Wellington last May.
Today, he was sentenced and fined just over $10,000 in
the Nelson District Court on the charge that arose from his inadequate response
to a serious illness or medical emergency at sea.
Sealord was also found guilty by way of attribution,
having breached its duty to the worker through the actions and inactions of
Puata.
The company was fined $80,000 at the culmination of
today's more than three-hour sentencing.
'Emotional expression'
The man's cousin told the court, in her victim impact
statement read at sentencing, that the pair had been raised as brother and
sister.
She explained the karakia was an emotional expression
of the recent past.
"His passing had such an emotional impact on
me," the woman said, while explaining her own significant health
challenges had led her to wonder if she would survive to see the closure that
occurred today.
She said the whānau was grateful the man, whose name
was permanently suppressed at their request, was able to be brought home for a
tangi.
She said they had long sought answers as to "what
the hell went on?"
Condition 'not diagnosed'
Judge Tony Snell said in his reserved decision
following trial that the man's condition was not diagnosed while he was off
work sick while on board the ship in June 2022.
Nor was the seriousness and urgent need for
shore-based intensive medical intervention for the condition ever understood or
appreciated by those who could have helped.
However, Judge Snell said at sentencing that despite
having a number of convictions for breaches of health and safety, Sealord had
robust health and safety systems "well beyond" that required by law.
It also had good systems for dealing with medical
emergencies in remote locations.
Judge Snell noted the company's upfront payment of
$65,000 to the whānau, in recognition of the emotional harm done, which negated
the need for court-ordered reparation.
Deteriorating condition
Puata was described as a caring skipper who, until
now, had an unblemished record.
The mid-winter voyage, delayed by Covid, left
Lyttelton after the ship had sailed from Nelson.
The man fell ill about 17 June, but neither Puata nor
Sealord were culpable for any inaction until the afternoon of 20 June, before
the man's death just after 2am on 21 June.
At about 5pm on 20 June he had gone up to the bridge
to tell Puata he was in pain and was given codeine.
Judge Snell said the bridge was not well lit, which
meant Puata was unable to make basic observations.
Later on, two crew members went to see Puata about the
man's deteriorating condition but they were told to "f*** off" and
were sent on their way, Judge Snell said.
Unable to be saved
At the midnight handover, Puata failed to notify the
designated medic about the man's condition and request for pain relief, or that
two crew members had visited and expressed concerns.
At 2.15am the man was found unresponsive, a short
distance from his cabin.
The person who found him alerted the ship's medic, but
he could not be saved, Judge Snell said.
He said expert medical evidence showed nothing Puata
could have done at that point would have changed the outcome.
The best he could have offered was palliative care to
"make his passing more peaceful", Judge Snell said.
He died alone, undignified and no doubt in great pain,
in what was a "significant departure from standards and standard operating
procedures" normally engaged on the boat, Judge Snell said.
The prosecution submitted that the apex of the failure
to diagnose the condition as serious, or at least warranting help, was on 20
June when the man's condition had "visibly deteriorated".
Counsel for Puata, Paul White, said despite having
defended the charges, his client had accepted the findings that were now a
blight on an otherwise impeccable career.
"He will labour with this for the rest of his
life, and the rest of his career," White said.
A lawyer for Sealord, James Cairney, said while the
failure lay in the absence of palliative care, that was not a demonstration of
poor systems on board, or lack of training.
There were appropriate resources on board and systems
in place to cope with a medical emergency in a remote location.
From a starting point for fines of $12,000, Puata was
fined $10,200 and ordered to pay $10,000 in costs plus a $5000 contribution
towards expert witness costs.
Sealord was also ordered to pay $20,000 in costs plus
a $5000 contribution to witness costs over and above the $80,000 fine.
- This story was originally published by the New Zealand Herald.
