The agony of a sea mystery unsolved

By PAULA OLIVER

It was about 7 pm when John Bradnock told Veronica Senior, his partner of 18 months, that he had "messed up" and was going to turn his fishing boat around. Speaking into his cellphone, the way he often kept in contact with her while at sea, Bradnock said he had taken the boat up the east coast from Wellington to check the fishing conditions.

But the further he had taken his 12.5m commercial trawler Moeraki Bay, the bigger the swell had got, he explained. The wind was forecast to worsen to gale force by midday the next day, but Bradnock had told a mate he wanted to catch some fish so he could pay a bill the following week.

He told Veronica "Ronnie" Senior, that he and his deck-hand, Kelvin Sheehan, had turned the boat around. He would ring her back to let her know if he was coming back to Wellington or heading for the other coast.

Ronnie called him half an hour later, but got no reply. She assumed the Moeraki Bay was sheltering somewhere out of cellphone range. She did not know she had held her final conversation with her partner.

What happened to the Moeraki Bay and its two experienced crew members after that final phone call on May 17 this year remains a mystery. The boat vanished without trace. No wreckage, no clothing and no bodies were found, and nothing was heard from the boat's emergency position-indicating beacon.

A three-day search by two Air Force Orions and several helicopters was abandoned on May 25.

The next day the New Zealand Refining Company announced that there was a problem with an additive in the diesel fuel stocks around the country.

According to the Maritime Safety Authority investigation, the Moeraki Bay bunkered at the Mobil Marine Stop at Wellington's Queen's Wharf, as did another boat, the Gaylene, skippered by a friend of Bradnock.

The Gaylene took on diesel at the stop on May 10, and its skipper, Dion Leigh, noticed the rate of flow at the pump was slower than normal. On the morning of May 17, the Gaylene's main engine stopped without warning and Leigh found the oil filters were clogged with a black sludge. Tests could not determine if the additive was the primary cause of the blockage.

The Moeraki Bay, which shared the same engine type as the Gaylene, took on diesel from the stop on May 15. Authority investigators cannot ascertain if the boat was affected by the diesel additive.

Bradnock and Sheehan's disappearance will be the subject of a coroner's inquest in two weeks, but this week the authority released its investigation into the event - its verdict inconclusive.

The authority report recommended that fishermen contact land every day, and always have a plan in place should that call not be made.

Six months after the Moeraki Bay's fateful last voyage, the recommendations come as cold comfort for the families and friends of the two missing men.

Bradnock's family and partner speak of him as an excellent operator, a man who had been fishing since he was 14.

Safety-conscious, equipped with the correct radios and able to handle the mechanical aspects of his boat, 48-year-old Bradnock was a fisherman with an excellent reputation.

Sheehan, aged 31, had been fishing for six years and loved the sea. His partner, Leanne Dunn, says he would get bored when he was kept on land for days, itching to get back out to the lifestyle he had grown to enjoy.

"I've accepted the fact that Kelvin is not coming back. I accept that he loved the sea, and it's a tribute to them both that they went that way.

"The lifestyle we had was totally different to other people's, but once you get into it you are hooked. These two were no fools. They were safety-conscious. It's been very hard on us," she says.

Both families are awaiting the coroner's inquest before they hold memorial services. For them, many questions still remain.

According to authority records, there have been 140 fatalities on commercial fishing vessels since 1985 - an average of nine a year. More often than not, parts of a vessel or its equipment are found.

But in three cases, including the Moeraki Bay, not a trace has been found of a missing vessel.

The dangers of commercial fishing were well known to Sheehan, who discussed the subject with family just days before putting to sea for the last time.

Bradnock, too, was well aware of the pitfalls, having been on board a boat that burned out near Castlepoint about 26 years ago.

Industry members say that while some cavalier attitudes exist among the ranks, most at sea make regular contact and take safety seriously.

The authority's acting director of maritime safety, Tony Martin, describes commercial fishing as a high-risk business.

"There's a tendency to work long hours when the fish are running, particularly if it's a seasonal fish.

"People get tired, and they can run aground. They can be out there for days with a small number of people, maybe just two or three on board," Martin says.

"John Bradnock was very experienced. But the sea doesn't respect experience."

The Moeraki Bay did what has been called "fish-and-chip-shop" catching. Based out of Wellington, Bradnock took his boat up the east coast to Napier, and the west coast to New Plymouth.

His father, Laurie Bradnock, says it had been his son's ambition to own his own boat - which he did.

Built in 1966, the wooden vessel was considered by investigators to be capable of handling the conditions when it vanished.

Anecdotal evidence suggests the Moeraki Bay had coped with worse conditions before.

So what happened out at sea?

Relatives and those who knew the men have their suspicions. The authority has said it cannot disregard the possibility of a collision, but there is no evidence.

The case of the two missing men may never be solved. But it has highlighted the hazards that await commercial fishermen every day.

"I think education is the best way for us to handle the safety aspect," Tony Martin says.

"The industry and ourselves have been working very hard to effect a culture of safety in the business, but there are always going to be things like this which go unexplained.

"Keeping in contact is so important, and we encourage people to fill in a two-minute form before they leave land, explaining where they're going."

For Leanne Dunn, the coroner's inquest, where she must give evidence, is a harrowing prospect.

"I know it has to be done, but it's so final. It really scares me.

"On the positive side, at least we have all been able to accept this in our own time."