Powerboat skipper James Thomson to be fined for Bay of Islands crash that destroyed historic ferry, broke captain’s neck

A distracted powerboat skipper who crashed into a crowded historic passenger ferry at speed in the Bay of Islands - resulting in an overboard ferry passenger, the other captain suffering a broken neck and the ferry’s sinking - returned to an Auckland courtroom today as family of the paralysed captain described the suffering he still endures.

James Petrie Thomson, 48, pleaded guilty in February to dangerous activity involving ships and was set to be sentenced today. The hearing began, with both sides agreeing a substantial fine and reparation were more appropriate outcomes than imprisonment, but Judge Nick Webby reserved his final decision.

The sentence is likely to be announced next week, the judge told a courtroom crowded with media.

Thomson was at the helm of his recently deceased father-in-law’s 10-metre twin-engine pleasure boat named Onepoto when he caused the crash in April last year.

The powerboat was travelling at an estimated 20.5 knots en route to Rawhiti Point around midday when an engine alarm sounded from the display unit next to the helm as the ship passed Toretore Island. Thomson was looking down at the display unit, scrolling through a list to identify the fault, for an estimated 90 seconds when he hit the ferry.

Thomson did not see the ferry until the moment of impact and took no action to avoid a collision.

The 79-year-old ferry, meanwhile, had been travelling with 19 passengers in open water when the skipper Bill Elliott noticed the other boat approaching moments before the collision. The wooden boat, owned by Elliott and named the Waitere but better known as the Blue Ferry, ran a regular route between Paihia and Russell.

Thomson’s boat penetrated the port-side of Elliott’s ferry, hitting Elliott directly. One passenger went overboard and several others were knocked off their feet.

Thomson reversed his vessel and radioed for help before rescuing the overboard passenger.

Russell ferry owner and skipper Bill Elliott with two of his grandchildren.

Elliott, then 77, was airlifted to Middlemore Hospital in Auckland and spent seven weeks in the spinal unit. He also suffered a heart attack. Other passengers suffered minor injuries and trauma.

Before the crash, Elliott had the strength and vigour of a 20-year-old, his family said. He worked as a builder when not operating the ferry, which had been in the family for 25 years.

He is now paralysed from the chest down and in need of 24-hour care, the court was told.

Passengers on the stricken Waitere Ferry, also known as the Blue Ferry, clamber over wreckage on April 13, 2023, while others tend to the injured skipper. Photo / Elliot Bexon

Dangerous activity involving ships is a violation of the Maritime Transport Act and carries a maximum sentence of 12 months’ imprisonment and a $10,000 fine. While there is no speed limit in open water, Thomson broke the law by failing in his duty as skipper to keep a proper lookout, and for not slowing his speed when he was distracted by the engine alarm.

Crown prosecutor Suzanne Trounson, representing Maritime New Zealand, suggested today that the judge consider a top-end fine of $9000, in addition to $100,000 in reparation to the Elliott family and thousands more in reparation to the other passengers. The judge may, however, want to reduce the amounts when considering the defendant’s ability to pay, she said.

Trounson acknowledged the reparation she suggested would be higher than any other case under the Maritime Transport Act, but it would take into account the major life change that came with Elliott’s paralysis, she said.

James Thomson appearing in the Auckland District Court on June 17 for sentencing after pleading guilty to dangerously operating a vessel resulting in a crash that sank the Waitere ferry in Russell in April 2023. Photo / Nick Monro / RNZ

Defence lawyer Honor Lantham sought reparation to the Elliott family of $40,000, which she said would still be “higher than any level of award that has ever been made in any other case”.

She noted her client is highly remorseful, to the point where it has shaken his sense of identity. He reached out to the family and apologised immediately and voluntarily gave them $10,000 to help with expenses for keeping vigil with him at the hospital. The family has shown graciousness in accepting his apology, she said, describing her own client as a family man with a military background.

“He’s a rules-bases and cautious man,” she said, explaining that the only reason he was skippering the boat that day was as a favour to another family member so he could take the boat in for repairs. “This was no joyride.”

She described both her client and Elliott as “experienced, well-meaning skippers” who didn’t see each other until the last moment.

Passengers on the stricken Waitere Ferry, also known as the historic Blue Ferry, wait to be rescued on April 13, 2023, near Russell, Bay of Islands. Photo / Elliot Bexon

It’s remarkable that no one else was severely injured given the ferry had been packed with school holiday visitors, Elliott’s family have said previously, noting their father was “blown away by the kindness people have shown him”.

Among those on board that day were Raglan resident Robyn Bregmen, her husband and two grandsons, aged 3 and 7. It was their first time on a ferry, she previously told NZME.

“About five minutes out, we saw this boat coming full speed towards us,” she recalled last year. “We thought, ‘Surely he’s not going to hit us. He’ll slow down or turn away’.

“Next minute, he hit us at full speed. It was a hell of a bang. I grabbed the boys. I thought we were going to sink. People sitting at the front were thrown in the water.”

The vessel skippered by James Thomson was impounded as the crash with the historic Blue Ferry was investigated. Photo / Peter de Graaf

Passengers and rescuers soon realised the wheelhouse of the ferry had disintegrated in the crash and Elliot was very badly injured. One witness described the crash as “a complete T-bone impact on the port side”.

Charges were filed against Thomson seven months later, after three investigations by Maritime NZ, police and the Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC).

Craig Kapitan is an Auckland-based journalist covering courts and justice. He joined the Herald in 2021 and has reported on courts since 2002 in three newsrooms in the US and New Zealand.