March 20, 2007...10:26 am
Earthrace Inquiry
The crew of the New Zealand-skippered trimaran Earthrace will be questioned by a Guatemalan judge tomorrow, following the boat’s high-seas fatal collision with a fishing boat early on Sunday morning.
Captain Pete Bethune, from Auckland, said from the military dock in Pueto Quetzal, where he has been ordered to stay, that things changed quite quickly in Guatemala “and not necessarily through the normal channels.” … The Guatemalan military said in a statement that fisherman Pedro Feliciano Salazar, 51, was hospitalised with serious injuries, and 21-year-old Juan Carlos Contreras suffered minor injuries. Julio David Galiano Contreras, 51, was still missing following the crash.
None of the speedboat’s crew was injured in the collision, which took place in international waters about 75 kilometres south of the capital, Guatemala City.
Following the crash, Mr Bethune dived into the water to look for Julio Contreras. The Earthrace then spent hours unsuccessfully searching for him. A Guatemalan navy search continued for the missing fisherman. … The Earthrace is trying to break the world record for circumnavigation of the globe, aiming to complete the 24,382 nautical mile-voyage in 65 days. The boat’s voyage was being powered by environmentally-sustainable biofuel.
Mr Bethune’s wife Sharyn told Radio New Zealand there were two likely scenarios.
“One is that the boat could leave Guatemala under a bond; the other is that Pete may have to remain behind and the rest of the crew can leave, which is what we don’t really want,” she said.
The investigation into the crash was just one of the issues faced by the Earthrace crew.
“They have got reparations to the family of the fisherman and ongoing hospital bills and things like that.
“There is also the investigation into why the boat didn’t appear on radar and why they didn’t see the boat until they were right on top of it,” Mrs Bethune said.
The Earthrace’s record attempt has been beset by problems, including lack of biofuel, disintegrating propellers and being shot at and boarded by a group claiming to be the Colombian navy.
The Bethunes mortgaged their house three times to pay for the boat.
It sounds like the Earthrace is a cursed ship and its record attempt is well over.
1 Comment
March 21, 2007 at 2:11 pm
Is it just me, or does it look like Batman’s boat to anyone else?
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