This is a pretty ugly story and now that it’s in court, it may get even uglier. According to a suit just filed in California, the captain of a 69-foot charter boat jumped on a Jet Ski at 4 in the morning as it was sinking in the Indian Ocean, picking up the boat’s masseuse and heading for safety, leaving eight passengers and various crew members behind. “An incompetent captain and crew, in complete disregard for the plaintiffs’ safety, panicked and abandoned ship without the plaintiffs,” the suit charges, who then were “forced to abandon the vessel in the dark of night in very rough seas.”
Two years ago, eight surfers chartered the boat, Quest 1 (pictured above), from Rip Curl, a company specializing in catering to the surfing industry, for two weeks for $30,000. The boat, which was often featured in surfing movies, was off the coast of West Sumatra when, after midnight, it started taking on water in the engine room.
The captain and crew were not able to control the inflow of water, and after a few hours the boat started to sink. The captain jumped on a Jet Ski, leaving the passengers to fend for themselves but picking up the masseuse. He then fled the scene. The next morning another passing boat rescued everyone; some were clinging to planks, others were in small rafts.
The suit charges that Rip Curl knew the boat was in a state of disrepair when it organized the charter. Read the full story here:
